Peter Moody's results at the Sydney autumn carnival fell short of his expectations with the Melbourne trainer blaming himself and a mystery virus for the sub par performances of many of his runners.Moody is at the top of the Group One ladder this season with six wins, equal with Bart Cummings, and Typhoon Tracy claimed four of his majors before her Doncaster Mile failure.Breaking away from his usual practice of taking his horses home between races, Moody decided to leave his team at Randwick, a

Peter Moody's results at the Sydney autumn carnival fell short of his expectations with the Melbourne trainer blaming himself and a mystery virus for the sub par performances of many of his runners.

Moody is at the top of the Group One ladder this season with six wins, equal with Bart Cummings, and Typhoon Tracy claimed four of his majors before her Doncaster Mile failure.

Breaking away from his usual practice of taking his horses home between races, Moody decided to leave his team at Randwick, a decision he regrets.

"My normal pattern is to have the horses home in their own boxes by breakfast time," Moody said.

"I broke the cardinal rule and left them at Randwick and it bit me on the arse.

"There's a virus at Randwick that some horses seem to get. It's not serious, they get an elevated temperature for a couple of days and most don't get sick.

"But if I'd taken them home as usual it wouldn't have happened.

"I think it cost me two or three Group Ones."

The latest of the Moody runners to disappoint was Tickets who finished second last in Saturday's All Aged Stakes won by Hot Danish.

Set For Fame was withdrawn from the Oaks and Hanks never made it to the Derby while Another Sunday was scratched from the Champagne Stakes.

Leading Randwick trainer Grahame Begg confirmed Moody's view there was a lingering virus at Randwick.

"It's been ongoing for two years," Begg said.

"It's an off and on thing. Some horses get an elevated temperature and most of those get over it in a couple of days.

"It doesn't seem serious but it's there.

"Not all horses get it, even those next to each other, it's just random."

Moody said he would never be sure whether it was a virus that contributed to Typhoon Tracy's lacklustre performance in the Doncaster with the mare suffering cuts when she was galloped on during the race.

"She was treated with antibiotics and medication for the injury so they would have masked any other problem," he said.

"She's recovering now and we will look to the spring."

He said Typhoon Tracy would follow the same path as last year starting with the Liston Stakes in August on the way to her ultimate goal, the Cox Plate.

"She will be a tougher, stronger five-year-old mare by then," Moody said.

"The Cox Plate is the aim."

Typhoon Tracy's four Group One victories have made her favourite to be named Horse of the Year at the end of this season.