EVEN a week later, it seems scarcely credible that Aidan O’Brien’s Waterville and Wayne Lordan got up to win the Friends Of The Curragh Irish Cesarewitch but the pair duly struck gold in the shadows of the post to pull off what looked the most unlikely of victories.

A huge injection of cash which made this race the most valuable handicap in the history of the state at €600,000, transformed the standing of Irish Cesarewitch.