The last twelve months paint a clear picture of where O'Brien sits right now: 10 winners from 129 runners, which works out at roughly 1 in every 13 races. That's not a flashy number, but for a trainer still in the early stages of his career, it represents a consistent ticking over. Getting 10 winners from a yard in a single season is a real achievement when you consider how competitive and unpredictable jump and flat racing can be at the lower levels.
His most-used jockey is John Shinnick, who has partnered O'Brien's horses 77 times — a number that speaks to real loyalty and a working relationship built over time. They've won together on 4 of those occasions, which is 1 win for every 19 rides. That's not a particularly high hit rate, but 77 rides is a significant investment of trust, and those 4 wins represent moments where the partnership clicked. O'Brien clearly values consistency in the saddle over shopping around.
One relationship that hasn't clicked yet is with Courtbrack Boy, who has run seven times for the yard without managing a win. Seven races together without a breakthrough is the kind of puzzle every trainer knows — a horse that keeps lining up but keeps finding something elusive at the finish. Whether that changes remains to be seen, but it's clearly a horse O'Brien believes in enough to keep running.
The most encouraging sign in the numbers is his record on normal ground: 1 winner from just 5 runners in those conditions, which is a 20% win rate, or roughly 1 in 5. That's a markedly better return than his overall figures, suggesting that when conditions are straightforward underfoot, his horses perform noticeably better. For anyone following the yard, that's a useful detail — when the ground is good and the conditions are fair, O'Brien's runners are worth a closer look.
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cork | 18 | 2 | 11.1% |
| Killarney | 10 | 1 | 10% |
| Thurles | 9 | 1 | 11.1% |
| Tramore | 9 | 0 | 0% |
| Punchestown | 9 | 0 | 0% |
| Naas | 8 | 1 | 12.5% |
| Clonmel | 8 | 0 | 0% |
| Listowel | 7 | 1 | 14.3% |
| Ballinrobe | 6 | 0 | 0% |
| Dundalk | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| Fairyhouse | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| Gowran Park | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Wexford | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Limerick | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Galway | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Navan | 3 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Tipperary | 3 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Kilbeggan | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Roscommon | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Down Royal | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Cheltenham | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Cartmel | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Leopardstown | 1 | 0 | 0% |