THE various performances from this week’s Guineas, Derby and Oaks trials – at Newmarket, Newbury, and perhaps even elsewhere – will be covered in next week’s Time Will Tellcolumn. But there were some meaningful pre-classic skirmishes before then, not least at Leopardstown on Sunday.

The four-runner listed 2000 Guineas Trial looks a weak contest, especially in terms of time, with the winner Black Sea registering a timefigure of just 82. As an indication of what might be required in a Newmarket 2000 Guineas outright, the average rating of winners on the day in the last five years has been 128, while Air Force Blue has already achieved a 121 timefigure.