CIRCUS Maximus was the football equivalent of the super-sub this week, and his victory in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes was well earned. He also has breathed new life into a famous female family and breeder and part-owner Maris Niarchos is deserving of credit for the success.

Winner of the Listed Dee Stakes at Chester, Circus Maximus (Galileo) is the only offspring of Duntle (Danehill Dancer) whose record of five wins in nine starts is thoroughly admirable, but nestled in the bare statistics is the fact that she was demoted after passing the post first in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.