IT’S a regular refrain that too many of the best horses are housed in too few yards, and that such a scenario is bad for competition, but while that holds true to some degree, the true test is in how competitive the top races are, and as long as the big guns are firing, then that state of affairs is usually enough to ensure that the pattern remains genuinely well contested.

The battle which has gone on between the superpowers of Coolmore and Godolphin helps to ensure that, but it’s not simply a duopoly, with operations like Al Shaqab, Qatar Racing and Phoenix Thoroughbreds all playing an increasing role, and old-school owner breeders like Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and Anthony Oppenheimer proving that there is plenty of life in the traditional powerhouses.

In fact, the re-emergence of Godolphin as a world power has been something to celebrate, and the outfit’s global success is a boon for British racing in general.

Derby success for Masar was probably the big highlight for Godolphin, for whom Charlie Appleby has been the undoubted flag-bearer, his tenure at Moulton Paddocks beginning as a face-saving venture after the scandal surrounding Mahmoud Al Zarooni threatened to bring Sheikh Mohammed’s brainchild to the brink of ignominy.

Appleby was at first a steady hand on the tiller and a solid operator who helped to carry an air of respectability through a difficult period of transition, but whose position within the organisation has become a much more pivotal one, and his success has been truly remarkable.

All four Group 1 winners in 2017 came on foreign soil, but 2018 has seen him successful at the top level in seven different jurisdictions, and he provided his boss with a coveted win the Derby with Masar.

If that was the zenith of his achievement, then success in the Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter can’t have been far behind. He has also stated his claim to classic glory in 2019 with the likes of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf hero Line of Duty and the unbeaten Quorto, who gave the trainer his first Group 1 in Ireland when beating Anthony Van Dyck in the National Stakes.