THE victory of Saxon Warrior in the 2000 Guineas in May appeared to leave the Deep Impact colt poised to carry all before him in 2018 but instead Irish racing’s star flat performer this year turned out to be Jessica Harrington’s brilliant miler Alpha Centauri.

Harrington had never made any secret of how much she coveted a classic triumph and Alpha Centauri duly delivered that much longed-for victory in the Irish 1000 Guineas, which represented the first act in an amazing summer campaign for the brilliant grey.