The autumn of 2025 tells the story neatly. O'Brien won a top-level race at Newmarket on consecutive days — the 10th and 11th of October — then added another at Doncaster a fortnight later. Three of the biggest prizes in British racing in the space of fifteen days. To put that in context, some trainers go entire careers without winning a single one of the top races at Newmarket, the sport's spiritual home in Britain. O'Brien has now collected 87 Class 1 wins at venues including Ascot, Chester, and Newmarket. That is an extraordinary haul for someone still only four years into the job.
There are patterns worth pointing to. At Chester — a tight, oval track that demands precision from both horse and trainer in terms of race placement — O'Brien has sent out 5 winners from just 9 runners. Winning more than half your runners at any course is the kind of number that makes other trainers pay attention. It suggests O'Brien knows exactly which horses to send there and when.
In the saddle, Wayne Lordan has become the yard's go-to jockey, and the numbers back up what is clearly a well-tuned working relationship. Lordan has ridden 43 winners from 191 races for the stable — just over 1 in every 5 rides resulting in a win — which is a remarkable conversion rate at this level. The sharpest individual partnership of the season, though, belongs to O'Brien and Benvenuto Cellini: three wins from five races together, a record that speaks to a trainer who knows how to place a horse in exactly the right race at exactly the right moment.
Four years, 612 winners, 87 top-level victories. Most people in this sport would happily retire on that record. O'Brien appears to be just getting started.
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Curragh | 162 | 36 | 22.2% |
| Leopardstown | 83 | 16 | 19.3% |
| Naas | 49 | 18 | 36.7% |
| Newmarket | 31 | 5 | 16.1% |
| Dundalk | 31 | 3 | 9.7% |
| Galway | 24 | 6 | 25% |
| Navan | 23 | 4 | 17.4% |
| Cork | 19 | 4 | 21.1% |
| Gowran Park | 19 | 3 | 15.8% |
| York | 16 | 2 | 12.5% |
| Doncaster | 13 | 3 | 23.1% |
| Ascot | 13 | 1 | 7.7% |
| Goodwood | 11 | 4 | 36.4% |
| Tipperary | 10 | 3 | 30% |
| Fairyhouse | 10 | 0 | 0% |
| Chester | 9 | 5 | 55.6% |
| Killarney | 9 | 4 | 44.4% |
| Listowel | 9 | 3 | 33.3% |
| Newbury | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Punchestown | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Bellewstown | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Lingfield Park | 3 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Sandown Park | 3 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Down Royal | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| sha_tin | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Thurles | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Limerick | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Haydock Park | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Epsom Downs | 1 | 0 | 0% |