A YEAR ago, I wrote about the exploits of Mecca’s Angel, and it was wonderful to see her return to her very best to win a pulsating Nunthorpe Stakes in August, thereby justifying the decision of owner David Metcalfe to keep her in training.

As one door closes, another opens, they say and fans of fast fillies have both Marsha and Quiet Reflection to enjoy in the absence of Michael Dods’s flying grey. The former, owned by the Elite Racing Club and trained by Sir Mark Prescott got the better of Mecca’s Angel when winning the Prix de L’Abbaye at Chantilly, and is a specialist at the minimum trip.

Karl Burke’s filly is also part owned by an enthusiastic syndicate in the shape of Ontoawinner, and carried their yellow and white quarters with great aplomb in 2016, sticking it up to the big boys when winning Royal Ascot’s Commonwealth Cup and the Sprint Cup at Haydock, showcasing an impressive cruising speed on both occasions which has become her trademark.

Like Mecca’s Angel, she signed off with a rare poor run in the British Champions’ Sprint, but that race was something of a mess with a pronounced draw bias affecting the result, and she’s better judged on earlier efforts, and she looks a leading candidate for top honours in the big six-furlong prizes next season.

Aside from her relatively humble background, her success has also been popular because of the story of her regular partner. Like champion jockey Jim Crowley, Dougie Costello started out as a jumps jockey.

His switch to the flat was neither as timely nor as seamless as his colleague’s, with the 34-year-old native of Co Galway combining riding under both codes only since turning 30, and turning his back on jumping only when offered a full-time position with Karl Burke.

Costello, who rode 2012 Triumph Hurdle winner Countrywide Flame, had his share of bad falls, and with a young family to provide for, could see the economic sense of Burke’s offer, and belatedly made the plunge. That bold decision, and the sacrifices he’s had to make to get to that point in his career, has been rewarded fulsomely.