I HAVE been championing him for some time, suggesting that it was only a matter of time before he won a Grade 1, and now he has done so. Well done to all connected with Carl Spackler, the four-year-old son of Ballylinch Stud’s flagbearer Lope De Vega (Shamardal).

What a treasure the dual French classic winner Lope De Vega has been since he retired to Ballylinch in 2011. John O’Connor and Ballylinch owner John Malone have ensured that they will have a high-class son of the 2010 Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby to carry on the line, and this year’s winner of that same classic, Look De Vega, will join his sire in Co Kilkenny in due course.