JOHN Nallen is some fair judge of a horse. We know how well he has done producing Gold Cup and Grand National winners, but he has also been proving a dab hand with more forward types, and in the recent past has had two three-year-old academy hurdle winners worth noting.

When researching these two, I dug a little further and found an even more telling tale. In Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Sale in 2023, in a little over two hours, he spent €194.000 on four yearling colts, one by Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars), two by Study Of Man (Deep Impact), and one by Golden Horn (Cape Cross). All had excellent female lines.