'He's an exciting horse to look forward to - we hope he's a Derby horse'

Aidan O'Brien's outstanding training record is such that a perceived deficiency in any given year is always forensically analysed. That was apparent last autumn.

There was a feeling abroad that Ballydoyle was having a poor season. Never mind the haul of seven major European Classics and a host of top-level international victories, there was something not quite right. The stable lacked a star two-year-old.

That all changed in a matter of minutes on September 25 when Caravaggio filly Tenebrism won the Cheveley Park and Galileo colt Luxembourg captured the Beresford Stakes. Four weeks later Luxembourg consolidated his reputation by winning the Vertem Futurity Stakes.