I ill start my yearly gripe session about Murtaugh. Does anybody know if he has gotten better? Iknow he rides for O'Brien, but I have little confidence in him. I have seen Murtaugh blow so many races that I hold my nose and bet hoping the horse can overcome the ride!  I wish Frankie was the stable rider.

Haha, like no one remembers the Classic Frankie embarrased himself in.

If you look closely enough you will find poor rides by all jockeys at sometime or other, be they American or European. O'Brien and Coolmore are no mugs and they would not stick with Murtagh if he didn't perform for them. They rightly dumped Jamie Spencer after one season, and if they didn't rate Murtagh he would have suffered the same fate. I don't rate him in the same league as Dettori or Fallon but if a horse is good enough and I wanted to bet it I would not be put off by Murtagh being on board.  

After looking at the races, Murtaugh is on at least 5 horses with a good shot at winning. He is on three of my major plays,Lilly Langtry,Mastercraftsman and Rip Van Wrinkle. I wonder how many of these Murtaugh can win? I guess I will have to hold my nose and bet them anyway and hope Murtaugh can stay on and don't do something stupid.

You're joking right? How can you seriously bet any horse ridden by a jockey you have such a poor opinion of? If I had the same view of Murtagh as you, I would rejoice in knowing that his rides were going to take a lot of money and therefore provide better value for those horses ridden by good jockeys, but instead you are going to join the rush to bet them. Unreal!