IT was a weekend of fairly low expectations for the Irish and British challengers at the Breeders’ Cup “World Thoroughbred Championships” but they still managed to fall short of them. A mixture of bad luck, horses which were not quite good enough, and a solid local defence operating under familiar conditions saw to that.

The one shining exception was the success of Iridessa in the Filly and Mare Turf, in which the Pretty Polly Stakes and Matron Stakes winner delivered her very best and edged out the home-trained Vasilika.