SO Irish Champions Weekend has come and gone and we are speeding into the return of the jumping stars. That also inevitably means soft ground is likely to prevail on the flat. Gleneagles was again a late withdrawal from the Irish Champions Stakes. He has now missed four outings since Royal Ascot. Only one - the Jacques le Marois - was run on what could have been described as bad ground. So Gleneagles whither thou goest now? The landmarks of the second half of the season, the Sussex Stakes, the Juddmonte, the Jacques le Marois, the Irish Champions Stakes have gone.

The ground was deemed too soft for his participation at Leopardstown yet many took a chance and most were not inconvenienced.

The following horses all ran over the weekend despite publicised ground concerns.

Air Force Blue - “the worry would be the ground”

Ballydoyle - “hopefully the ground won’t get too soft”

Legatissimo - “I was very close to not running her”

Limato - “It was a major risk running him on the ground”

Sole Power - “I thought the ground was against him but wanted to support the race”

After the National Stakes Aidan O’Brien said Air Force Blue hated the ground. Yet he travelled well and won impressively despite being a son of War Front.

You would think hard races on softer than ideal ground might have more of a detrimental effect on a three-times raced two-year-old than a three-year-old with a season and a half under his belt.

Across at Doncaster, Henry Candy was also worried the ground would affect Limato’s performance. But how wrong he was, as the little gelding put up one of the performances of the weekend. There’s a special thrill in watching a ‘talking horse’ apparently having no chance and having the words die on your lips as they burst into action.

Having looked well beaten, suddenly Limato whizzed through decent horses to scoot away impressively. Visually, the ground conditions at Doncaster were definitely soft and loose on top, more so than at Leopardstown.

At the Curragh few fancied Sole Power in the conditions but he made light of them for a popular win. Of course both horses are geldings and have no stud reputations to risk, they can risk defeat, and come back to win again.

The two remaining targets for Gleneagles, the British Champions Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup carry ground risks. Ascot will surely have ‘soft’ in its description and sending Gleneagles to adapt against a top class specialist field of dirt horses, where there is also a possibility it could be a sloppy track, must be a huge risk.

The question looms, is he too valuable to race again, as the next Galileo in the stud box, or if he never runs again this season, would it be worth persisting with a campaign next season. Would a Frankel-like campaign from the Lockinge, through the Queen Anne, Sussex to York not add to his aura?

At eight years old Sole Power is nearing the end, but Limato will now be around for a few more years yet. Even if Gleneagles was the most important horse ever had in Ballydoyle, if he doesn’t reappear next year, how much will he be missed?

Compare it with those moments in the finish of a race when the commentator’s voice quickens and suddenly rises,..“and HERE COMES SOLE POWER…” Now, those we will miss.