OF all the potential Irish Champions Festival trials run at the Curragh during August, the two that make the most sense are the Futurity and the Debutante Stakes, leading naturally onto the National and Moyglare Stakes three weeks later over the same course and distance.

Since 1997, the Futurity has produced 10 winners of the National from 54 runners, twice as many as the next best, the Phoenix Stakes with five, while the Debutante does even better. Seventeen Moyglare winners have emerged from that race from 85 runners in the same period, a remarkable number.