WHEN Order of St George bursts out of the stalls at Chantilly on Sunday, he will have a very realistic chance of landing the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. His Irish St Leger win was arguably the best effort of his distinguished career, and the soft ground is of more help to him than when a gallant third in last year’s contest which was run on unseasonably quick going.

My reasons for cheering him on, though, are only partly form based, and the root of my support is for what the five-year-old entire represents, namely a throwback to a lost age when Gold Cup winners were the poster boys of flat racing.