He who pays the piper calls the tune surely? - it's not a matter of being anyone's lapdog, but Ballydoyle are there principally to service the breeding ambitions of Coolmore aren't they - though it must be a two way thing to some extent.
I'd imagine the principal horses' campaigns are set out in agreement in advance of the season, and adhered to so far as possible, with their breeding and esp stallion prospects in mind; and the operation is global. No doubt Magnier and his co-investors take a lot of advice from AOB as to how the horses are campaigned, but finally the decisions must be theirs.
I'd be truly amazed if AOB was given carte blanche to make the entries! And I'd prefer to think he wouldn't have put GW through that hell at Monmouth, given the choice. Call me sentimental, but I would like to believe AOB cares more for his horses than that. Or to run a patently unfit DT in Hong Kong, just because he happened to have fetched up there!