AIDAN O’Brien describes last season as a “bit of a mess” for most of his horses, yet he still oversaw 15 Group/Grade 1 winners in five different countries. He also produced a champion two-year-old colt and accounted for five classic wins, two of which were wide margin winners at Epsom.

However, there is already supporting evidence to O’Brien’s conjecture that the body of form for a number of his troops was inconvenienced by the unconventional nature of the 2020 season, not least the recent performances of fillies Mother Earth and Snowfall.