WHEN writing a column for The Irish Field last season, Jessica Harrington used the saying ‘if you don’t have any good two-year-olds, you’re not going to have any good three-year-olds’ on more than one occasion.

She used the saying in the positive context towards her all conquering batch of two-year-old fillies. By the same token, Harrington must have been a little bit concerned when two of her A-class generation, Millisle and Albigna, were so tamely beaten in their attempts for classic wins in the last two weeks.

In many ways Alpine Star was the forgotten filly. But it was interesting when Harrington wrote last year that the daughter of Sea The Moon, and half sister to the brilliant Alpha Centauri, was an intended runner in the Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc day at ParisLongchamp but for a small setback in the weeks leading up to the race.

That meant the same owner’s Albigna was the star substitution. The rest of that year is history because Albigna produced a brilliant performance to win in Paris and book a Breeders’ Cup ticket, where she ran a big race to finish fourth to Sharing in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Albigna took the chance given to her while Alpine Star stood at home in Moone but it was surely significant that it was she who was initially pencilled in for the Marcel Boussac. It could have been a lot different, and it is now.

Interestingly, it sounded like Harrington had the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches in mind for Alpine Star earlier this year but protocols on foreign runners in France stopped that form happening. It was probably then that the Coronation Stakes plan was hatched.

It was a plan that made a lot of sense, mostly because of what her half sister did in the same race in 2018. Yet on Saturday she was still running first time out and against race-fit fillies, the second and third from the 1000 Guineas and, ironically enough, Albigna’s Breeders' Cup conqueror, Sharing.

Most encouragingly, that proved absolutely no hindrance at all to Alpine Star, as she powered away to win by more than four lengths from Sharing, who was a clear second. In isolation it was the performance of a top class filly and the time she recorded was faster than that of Palace Pier in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

She may be a forgotten filly in more ways than one. That she is a half sister to Alpha Centauri has been well documented but it seems that because she doesn’t look anything like her freakishly big relation, both in size and colour, and she is by a sire who is little less fashionable, she has perhaps been afforded less attention by analysts than she should have.

But she can go even higher than her much decorated sibling now. Remember Alpha Centauri’s brilliant performance in the same Royal Ascot Group 1 was her third start as a three-year-old and the seventh of her life. This was Alpine Star’s first start as a three-year-old and just the fourth start of her life. Indeed it was her first start in a mammoth 303 days.

It is not overestimating her potential to suggest that she will be significantly better for this run, both in terms of fitness and potentially when she goes up in trip. After the race Frankie Dettori said she would have no problem getting 10 furlongs but was unsure about a mile and a half.

Alpha Centauri never went further than a mile (she may well have but for a career-ending injury) and maybe Alpine Star will follow a similar path for now. The Falmouth was her half sister’s next race so Newmarket could be on the cards for her now, perhaps followed by the Prix du Moulin, pending protocol restrictions. She might finally get to travel to France.

But it’s worth noting the stamina evident in Alpine Star’s pedigree - her sire was an 11-length winner of the Deutsches Derby. In that case, she could be even better over further and will likely get the chance to prove it at some point this term which could leave open a potentially brilliant clash with 1000 Guineas heroine Love.

Given connections still have Albigna, who no one should be giving up on considering she ran poorly in last year’s Moyglare Stud Stakes before bouncing back emphatically, it may mean Alpine Star is afforded the chance to go a longer trip sooner rather than later. It will be intriguing to see how she develops.

Pinatubo (centre) couldn't make his speed tell in the slowly-run St James's Palace Stakes

Simon Rowlands will go into it in microscopic detail in his Time Will Tell column on Saturday, but even a bland look at the sectionals of the St James’s Palace Stakes tell you that the race turned into a sprint finish.

With that in mind, if you’re a fan of Pinatubo, it’s even more disappointing that his use of speed, so evident and effective in his races last season, wasn’t enough to get him home in front.

The evidence is substantial now that Pinatubo hasn’t progressed sufficiently to maintain his advantage from last year. That is a little disappointing considering he had the potential to go as high as Frankel, with his two-year-old form rated higher than that great horse.

That said, he is still a top class three-year-old and it will be intriguing to see if his connections can win a Group 1 with him at some stage this season. A Sussex Stakes clash with Siskin, who looks a similar speedy type, and the older horse Circus Maximus would be very exciting.

RTÉ head of sport Declan McBennett labelled the viewing figures published for Irish Guineas weekend satisfying rather than spectacular.

A peak audience of 129,000 tuned into view Siskin’s 2000 Guineas win, an increase from the 69,000 figure for the same race last year, which was on a Saturday. A peak of 150,000 saw Peaceful’s win in the 1000 Guineas, significantly up from the average peak during the last five years of 96,000.

On the face of it, these figures are positive but the context around them is significant given there are a lot more people at home,with televisions turned on and there is very little other sport to compete with. This is surely the same case for ITV who reported increased viewing figures for Royal Ascot last week.

McBennett’s summation is therefore very understandable. It was interesting that in the same piece in the Racing Post, he went on to say: “Traditionally the Flat has always been outdone by the jumps on RTÉ. The likes of the festivals at Galway, Punchestown and Fairyhouse will always attract bigger audiences than Flat racing. That's just the way it is in Ireland.”

You only have to look at the Irish Derby this Saturday to back up that statement. Aidan O’Brien is going for his 14th win in the race and has the first six in the betting.

For the purist racing fan, a Ballydoyle is fascinating as the standard bearer for our the flat racing industry and there will always be intrigue in the genius of O’Brien and the homegrown beautiful pedigrees on show.

But the casual racing fan is just not going to engage in this. That is the difficulty with flat racing’s image in this country - true heartfelt moments like Ger Lyons’s first classic win with Siskin are few and far between.