ASK yourself this question: Has Aidan O’Brien and Ballydoyle had a good season?

For many, it feels like they haven’t. But it’s not good practice to answer questions with feelings. Facts are better.

O’Brien has sent out 17 Group/Grade 1 winners this year so to label that as a bad season seems bogus. St Mark’s Basilica remained unbeaten in four races and has retired a champion and O’Brien has had a real impact in France and America, scooping multiple top prizes in those jurisdictions.

Yet, he has trained just four Group 1 winners in Ireland (of a possible 13) and six in Britain (of 35 so far). Below the top level, Ballydoyle have gone through unusually long losing streaks at various times during the season and with 84 winners recorded in Ireland, O’Brien may well fail to break a century of home winners for the first time since 2012.

In a way, you can understand why it feels like O’Brien has had a poor campaign, given the majority of what has gone well, has taken place abroad, perhaps out of the racing public’s consciousness on these shores. However, the key focus for many is the collective performance of the Ballydoyle juveniles, given the stable’s universally strong performance in that division year on year.

As it stands, O’Brien is third in the trainers’ table when you filter it by the earnings of two-year-olds only. You have to go back to 2008 to the last time he didn’t come out on top in this metric. If you concentrate on numbers of two-year-old winners only, O’Brien holds just a three-win lead over Ger Lyons. To put that into context, the last time he didn’t have more two-year-old wins than any other trainer was 1994.

This has probably as much to do with an increasingly competitive scene in Ireland and that has to be a good thing.

As of now, Tenebrism will be the only member of the Ballydoyle classic generation next season with a Group 1 win as a juvenile but Luxembourg could join her today, and Glounthaune and Stone Age have chances to do so also in Saint-Cloud.

A record equalling 10th Vertem Futurity Trophy (3.15), is surely the preference if ‘the lads’ had the choice. Luxembourg, a son of Camelot, blasted home in impressive fashion to win the Beresford Stakes, and so impressed were his owners, they dished out €1.2 million for his younger brother at the Orby Sale the following week.

Similar profile

He has quite a similar profile to O’Brien’s winner of this race in 2017, Saxon Warrior, and a win today would make him a serious 2000 Guineas contender. Indeed, the last four winners of this race have won a 2000 Guineas - Saxon Warrior, Magna Grecia and Kameko all conquering Newmarket, and last season’s winner Mac Swiney took the Irish 2000 this term.

He was trained by Jim Bolger who intriguingly has another represnentative today at Leopardstown, maiden winner McTigue, perhaps named after the Clare native Mike McTigue, who was a world champion boxer in his time, although you wouldn’t want to second guess the master of Coolcullen.

Sissoko may be named after the current French raiding midfielder Moussa - though that guess is a bit more far-fetched - and he is the other Irish runner, sent over by Donnacha O’Brien.

That trainer has retained a quality-over-quantity approach after an amazing time last year and though he has yet to get close to those heights this term, this six-length Curragh winner could yet get him there.

JOHN McConnell again showed he’s a trainer worth following at this time of the season when Bardenstown Lad rewarded heavy betting support to win at Cheltenham yesterday.

The Meath trainer now has five winners from 25 runners at Cheltenham, improving his level stakes profit to €19.88. He has more chances today, most notably his brilliant servant Go Another One, who goes for win number 14 in the feature contest, the three-mile-one-furlong £60,000 888sport What’s Your Thinking Handicap Chase (2.20).

Caroline Ahearn’s nine-year-old has won two of his last three and beat stablemate Roi De Dubai, who goes for the three-mile novices’ chase later on the card, at Perth last time.

McConnell said: “It’s competitive. He ran very well in the Kim Muir in the spring. That’s pretty good form to bring into the race. He’s obviously in form after his win in Perth.

“We haven’t got much up our sleeve handicap mark wise, but he should run another good race. He’s in great nick.”

Much of the attention in the race will be on last year’s Ladbrokes Gold Trophy winner Cloth Cap, who carries the colours of the late Trevor Hemmings for the first time since his owner’s passing.

Jonjo O’Neill’s horse was clear favourite for the Grand National but was pulled up before the third last at Aintree by Tom Scudamore, who takes the ride again today.

“It will be lovely to put those colours back on again. Let’s hope it’s very fitting to Trevor, and we can go and do him proud,” said Scudamore.

“There will be lots of different emotions, mainly for the Hemmings family, and we just want to do Trevor proud.

“It was a tremendous thrill (to win at Newbury). He jumped from fence to fence. He gave me two great days and gave me such a great ride in the National for a long way as well – and he was fabulous at Kelso.

“There’s plenty more in front of him. He’s in his prime. The way he went through last season showed us he’s got plenty more to offer.”