HOW much is a length and a quarter worth in racing? In the case of the Limestone and Tara Studs-bred River Boyne, it cost his owners some £160,000 when the son of Dandy Man (Mozart) was beaten by that distance in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile Stakes at Santa Anita in 2019.

The previous year he was beaten half a length when runner-up in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar.