WE will soon be embroiled in the National Hunt season, with the focus of this column turning to jump index scores and lengths gained jumping, but for now the flat season is coming to a conclusion in a manner that has become customary, with Aidan O Brien farming the final Group 1 races of the season and, in so doing, looking very likely to become champion trainer in Britain.

He is also just three Group 1 winners short of his 2017 haul of 28 in a calendar year, with the two days of the Breeders’ Cup providing him with some excellent opportunities to close the gap further.