DELACROIX’s devastating finishing burst to win the Coral-Eclipse Stakes last Saturday put the seal on a brilliant first half of the season for the Aidan O’Brien stable.

With 10 Group 1 winners in the bag by mid-July, it looks as though he could go close to his own record of Group 1 wins in a season.

And it could even have been better, as the season began with the loss of top three-year-old filly Fairy Godmother, followed by a setback ruling out his number one 2000 Guineas candidate Twain. Godolphin took advantage by winning the first two British classics with Desert Flower and Ruling Court.

But from then it has been full-steam ahead for Ballydoyle. Henri Matisse took the French 2000 Guineas, Camille Pissaro followed up in the Prix du Jockey Club and Lake Victoria took the Irish 1000 Guineas to add to the success of Los Angeles in the Tattersalls Gold Cup.

At Epsom, it was a three-timer in the Group 1s with Jan Brueghel, Minnie Hauk and Lambourn. Whirl boosted the Oaks form in the Pretty Polly, Lambourn followed up at the Curragh and Delacroix put up the outstanding performance of the season at Sandown.

This weekend has Whistlejacket and Trinity College are in line for two more Group 1s.

In context, it should be noted that the trainer’s firepower is immense. On Monday, there were no less than 20 Ballydoyle entries in the Grand Prix de Paris, now whittled down to just one.

Second half

But everyone loves to see top-class horses. The Eclipse was terrific and the Sussex and Juddmonte International promise more before we come to the Irish Champion at Leopardstown.

Delacroix v Ombudsman v Field of Gold at York would be race of the year.

With such a depth and range of talent, across the mile and middle-distance division, it will be interesting to see the plans for the second half of the season.

Minnie Hauk presumably bids for the Oaks double. Whirl and Bedtime Story would be in prime position for the Nassau. Henry Matisse may take on Field Of Gold again in the Sussex. That would look the logical option where Illinois could also line up for the Goodwood Cup.

Off his high two-year-old rating, The Lion In Winter still needs a Group 1 win. The Jean Prat was inconclusive regarding his best distance but nothing in his pedigree says seven furlongs should be ideal so the Jacques le Marois or the Moulin would look good options, with possibly Camille Pissaro going back for the Deauville contest also.

Jan Brueghel heads the King George betting – will Lambourn join him? The dual Derby winner is favourite for the St Leger, but despite his run style over a mile and a half, on pedigree he is not guaranteed to get two furlongs further. (Out of a Scat Daddy mare, who never raced beyond seven furlongs.)

Winning the Leger would add little to Lambourn, and running and not winning it might even take away from his stud potential.

Serious Contender went close at the Curragh but, as a son of Wootton Bassett, surely a Leger would be too much.

Forefront

Of the later developing colts, Scandinavia (Justify) went to the forefront of St Leger plans with his impressive mile and five furlongs Newmarket success, but Stay True could improve into the reckoning too, as his Lingfield Derby second was hugely promising. Absent since then, the Galileo colt has a Great Voltigeur entry. Last year, it was two Ballydoyle-trained sons of Gailileo who fought out the Leger finish.

And then what of Lambourn? The dual Derby winner arguably needs the most management.

He is not as speedy as Auguste Rodin, but on the basis of his Derby win, where he raced so prominently, would it be a bold shout to go for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, where forwardly ridden horses can do well? It would add a lot more to his CV than a St Leger.

York will be intriguing with two Ballydoyle two-year-olds prominent in the ante-post markets for the Nunthorpe.

And Los Angeles and Lake Victoria could be back for the end of season contests. All in all, it’s been a massive haul of the Group 1 contests so far and, while Godolphin took the Group 1 yesterday, there appears no sign of anyone taking the wind from the Tipperary sails.

Delacroix delivers deadly finish to leave experts raving

AT times you wonder how we gauged the merits of what appeared to be top-notch performances in the days before we had all the time data that we now have available.

Last week’s Eclipse Stakes was a wonderful race, but it was one that left plenty of debate over the first and second and the rides each received. Did Delacroix benefit from a ‘Moore masterclass’ or did William Buick jump the gun in committing Ombudsman much earlier than he had done when winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot?

While Moore got the initial plaudits on social media and from connections, and Buick came in for some criticism, the analysis by the experts put a different slant and pushed the honours on to the horse.

“Delacroix’s final furlong was probably the fastest recorded by an Eclipse winner in history. Let that sink in for a moment.” Simon Rowlands/ATR

“It wasn’t a masterclass from Moore; it was a Houdini act from Delacroix, who showed a remarkable change of gear.” Paul Kealy/Racing Post

“He had no business running down a Group 1 winner who wasn’t stopping. This really does rate a first-class effort.” Richard Russell/Racing Post

Delacroix had looked good, but we were unsure of the opposition when he clocked a sub-11 second furlong in winning the Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial Stakes at Leopardstown. It should also be remembered that the Dermot Weld-trained Purview was actually faster than Delacroix in that second last accelerating furlong. Absent since, his return will be much anticipated.

IN this era, we are told AI can now tell us anything, solve complex problems. I wasn’t sure what it might throw up when asked the question, how do we find the perfect National Hunt stallion?

What parameters could bring to the fore horses with as diverse racing careers as Jeremy, Affinisea, Tunis, Blue Bresil and Martinborough?

ChatGPT says: ”A perfect National Hunt stallion is a stallion that consistently produces offspring that excel in National Hunt racing - typically over hurdles or fences, in races ranging from 2 to 4.5 miles. So, the perfect NH stallion should ideally combine pedigree, performance, conformation, and proven results at stud.” There we are!

And to the question who would that be, it was predictable. “If you’re evaluating by both quality and prominence, Walk In The Park stands out as the current benchmark stallion.”

But it’s safe to say that in Jukebox Jury, a horse who won over a mile at two years, won a mile and a half Group 1 at three and the mile and six Irish St Leger at four, this was a horse who fitted the typical bill of what we looked to as a jumping sire going back 20 years or so.

Top jump sires Kayf Tara and Yeats had also won the Irish St Leger and the most famed jumps sire of previous decades, Deep Run, had finished second in that race.

Some sires, imported on the back of one good runner, often flatter to deceive a few years on.

But ‘Jukebox’ had begun to create his niche since his return to Ireland, as one of the most in-demand jumping sires and he is a significant loss to National Hunt breeding and Burgage Stud.