Only four trainers in Ireland have sent out more two-year-old winners than Ken Condon this year. The four? Jessica Harrington, Aidan O’Brien, Ger Lyons and Joseph O’Brien, each with treble the amount of juvenile runs compared to Condon, who in fact has easily the best two-year-old win percentage inside the top 20 trainers in Ireland at 35%.

Moreover, he is making it pay, with first-time-out Curragh winners Teresa Mendoza and Thunder Beauty creating valuable trading options for his owners.

In Railway Stakes winner Laws Of Indices, who cost just €8,000, he has another valuable trading option which hasn’t been taken yet so he now has a juvenile fit for Group 1 races, his performance in the Phoenix Stakes proof of that, given he missed the break completely but was still able to finish fast for fourth.

On Thursday, Condon sends Miss Amulet over to York for the Group 2 Lowther Stakes, and she ties in with the general trend. The £7,500 yearling purchase has already achieved over five times that value in prize money and is worth a lot more than that following her impressive win in the Listed Marwell Stakes at Naas.

That is up there with the best juvenile filly form in Ireland because she beat Frenetic, who had earlier finished a close second to Aloha Star (subsequently third in the Phoenix Stakes) and who has won again at the Curragh since.

Miss Amulet had to wait for a gap for a good portion of the final two furlongs but when she did get space, she picked up to win like a very good filly. Interestingly, the filly she had back in third, Measure Of Magic, beat her at Down Royal when the pair met on their penultimate starts. That suggests Miss Amulet is improving fast.

And yet she and her trainer seem to be underrated again at a price of 12/1 for the six-furlong Group 2. That won’t matter much to Condon, considering earning against expectancy has been his forte, having already attained Group 1 success from a string of horses that shouldn’t allow him such an achievement.

Sooner or later, a big owner will come knocking. Miss Amulet can provide yet another advertisement with a big performance on the Knavesmire.

The Magical distance?

Ghaiyyath is the best horse in tomorrow’s excellent renewal of the Juddmonte International, but not by much.

The Godolphin five-year-old is in fact the best in the world with a rating of 127, but will only have 2lb in hand of Magical when the sex allowance of 3lb comes into play. Lord North is on 125 but has improved his rating on five of his previous six starts and may still be below his ceiling. Kameko is the three-year-old, who has to improve against his elders, but may just have his ingredients tomorrow, coming up to 10 furlongs.

But there is so much more to this 10-and-a-half furlong contest than bare figures. The mind casts back to last year’s Arc when Ghaiyyath and Magical pushed a severe tempo that ultimately did for them both, more so Ghaiyyath who was eased completely in the straight while Magical kept on for fifth, beaten 10 lengths by Waldgeist.

Ghaiyyath may well be a better horse this year, connections having found the key to harnessing his power from the front but at his best, Magical will still be close to him and I’ve feeling the trip is the key here.

Magical has won eight of her 10 starts between nine and 10 and a half furlongs. She is one from five over 12 furlongs. Her only defeats at 10 furlongs came when she was just touched off by Enable in the Eclipse last year and then second again to Crystal Ocean in a tactical affair in the Prince of Wales.

She will likely track Ghaiyyath again and, given the benefit of hindsight, in the case of connections of both runners, it will be intriguing to see how the race develops. It’s likely Magical, teak-tough as she is, will have the ability to stay with Ghaiyyath and finish her race out over this extended 10-furlong distance.

Lord North and Kameko are likely to be held up. Notwithstanding a fight-back for the three-year-olds in the Prix Jacques Le Marois on Sunday, they’ve looked a fairly average bunch this season and it is not an absolute given Kameko will be at his optimum over this trip, nor is it a given that he would have won or even finished second to Mohaather in the Sussex.

To my mind he is the one I’d take on out of the four because Lord North is a proven powerful finisher over this trip and he continues to improve. If the front two get their fractions wrong, he could well pick up the pieces, continuing his steep upward curve.

As usual, it is an excellent contest.