THE group races which did take place in Ireland and Britain in the period under review went the way of Realtra (Coolmore Stud Fairy Bridge Stakes), Masar (Solario Stakes) and Aljazzi (Atalanta Stakes) with the first-named at Tipperary with a 95 timefigure, the last-two-named both at Sandown with 103 timefigures.

Masar already had one of the top juvenile timefigures of the season (111) to his name courtesy of his third in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot. Sectionals show that the pace in the Solario was not all that strong early and peaked at 12.0s per furlong between the beginning of the straight and the one-furlong pole, which helps to explain that shortfall.