ALSO last Saturday, three-year-olds sparred at Aqueduct in the Grade 3 Withers. Actually, it wasn’t much of a sparring match as El Areeb posted his fourth consecutive win for M M G Stable, trainer Cal Lynch and jockey Trevor McCarthy. The grey son of Exchange Rate once again used his natural speed to find a stalking spot before cruising to a runaway four and a quarter-length score.

With a small stable based in Maryland, Lynch tried to deflect any talk of big things down the road. Well, he deflected and then relented.