WHAT a difference a year can make. Wind the clock back 12 months and one week and St Mark’s Basilica trailed home a disappointing fifth in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes before landing odds of 4/7 to win his maiden in workmanlike fashion back at the Curragh later in the month.

However, the son of Siyouni was so well-backed for the Phoenix on the day, having come into the race off a sole second-place finish, he had to have been showing something good back at Ballydoyle, so that he went on to earn the European champion juvenile title wasn’t a startling development.