ALMOST any trainer would be delighted to win a couple of Group 1 races in their career. This helps to put into perspective the fact that Aidan O’Brien has landed the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes an incredible 16 times in the last 20 runnings of the race.

A look at the list of winners reveals that it is also a fair pointer to future sire success. Given that it is said that most stallion careers end in failure, it is interesting to take a quick look at how the Ballydoyle winners of this two-year-old contest have done at stud.