YOU sense that Aidan O’Brien has made a fast start to the season, that his horses are more forward at this time this year than they usually are and that is backed up by the statistics.

With one week still to go in April, O’Brien has had 18 winners from 54 runners in Ireland. That’s a strike rate of 33%, for a net level-stakes profit of €33.29. Last April, for the entire month, he had 11 winners from 53 runners (21%) for a level-stakes loss of €8.46, while in 2014 he had nine winners from 43 runners (21%) for a level-stakes loss of €12.13.