Aidan O’Brien facing problems on two fronts

We know there has been something of a cloud hanging over the Ballydoyle horses for a while now, with Aidan O’Brien reporting that the bug was “the worst we’ve had.’’

Worryingly, however, well before any reports of this began to emerge, it was somewhat clear O’Brien’s juveniles were shaping as nowhere near the level we have come to expect.

Whatever is ailing the horses will, presumably, pass soon enough but a lack of quality among the two-year-olds offers a deeper problem, given they obviously represent the future.