'We thought she’d either be very good or she’d be a terror!' - Little wonder as Lady Of Spain soars

It is not too often that the year's final few days of European Flat racing action provide someone with a genuine career highlight.

For John Little and the Mullingar-based Ennell Lodge Stud, Christmas arrived on December 18 when Lady Of Spain extended her unbeaten record to four with a comfortable win in the Listed Prix Petite Etoile at Deauville.

Sold as a foal at Tattersalls, one of the very first progeny of the Irish National Stud’s Phoenix Of Spain to have been born, the three-year-old made her debut around this time 12 months' ago for Roger Varian and a partnership headed up by Leon Boros.