THE victory of Saxon Warrior in the 2000 Guineas in May appeared to leave the Deep Impact colt poised to carry all before him in 2018 but instead Irish racing’s star flat performer this year turned out to be Jessica Harrington’s brilliant miler Alpha Centauri.

Harrington had never made any secret of how much she coveted a classic triumph and Alpha Centauri duly delivered that much longed-for victory in the Irish 1000 Guineas, which represented the first act in an amazing summer campaign for the brilliant grey.

The Curragh was followed by a dominant victory at Ascot and then the daughter of Mastercraftsman took advantage of the proverbial penalty kick in the Falmouth Stakes. Meanwhile, August brought with it an interesting assignment against the colts in the Prix Jacques le Marois and this duly yielded another towering display.

All this seemed to set the stage for a victorious homecoming in the Matron Stakes but there Alpha Centauri suffered a shock defeat to Laurens and it transpired that she had sustained a career-ending injury in the closing stages of the race. It was a most unfortunate way for a brilliant career to come to a close but does nothing to detract from her position as Irish racing’s stellar performer in 2018.

MIXED YEAR FOR BALLYDOYLE

The aforementioned Saxon Warrior also suffered a career-ending injury on that same Leopardstown card, having lost out by a neck to Roaring Lion. It seems hard to believe that he wasn’t able to win again after the 2000 Guineas but two tries at a mile and a half didn’t bring out the best in him and, like many other Ballydoyle inmates, he had to contend with an illness that swept through his yard over the summer.

Saxon Warrior and Donnacha O'Brien after winning the 2000 Guineas in May. Photo Healy Racing

After the record-breaking exploits of 2017, Aidan O’Brien had to settle for 14 Group 1 winners this year and that haul included three English classics. Meanwhile, he set a new record for the number of winners in an Irish flat season, which represents quite a feat given that his yard wasn’t firing at the height of the summer.

On the home front the master of Ballydoyle was restricted to just one classic triumph, and Royal Ascot failed to yield a two-year-old success, but there were plenty of highs too. The teak-tough U S Navy Flag’s successful switch from miling to sprinting in the July Cup stands out, Merchant Navy’s brief stay in the Northern Hemisphere was a notably successful one, and the autumn yielded a number of Group 1 triumphs on the two-year-old front.

Given that the summer wasn’t a straightforward one there could easily be some major untapped potential amongst the Ballydoyle three-year-olds of 2019.

It will also be fascinating to see how high Ten Sovereigns can fly given the remarkable month-long swing that it took for him to go from wide-margin Curragh maiden winner to Middle Park Stakes hero.