To be fair to Joseph O’Brien, Festive Cheer was even further off the pace than Ruler Of The World, came under pressure at the same time, encounted more traffic and still got closer than the odds-on favourite. Ruler Of The World would not have won with anybody aboard. Festive Cheer may have done, though!
I have to agree that both rides were very poorly-judged even so. You could see the exact moment turning into the straight where both Ballydoyle jockeys hit the panic buttons and realised that they had ballsed it up. 