'Hermes Allen has wonderful origins but we've had to wait for his success'

Bruno Vagne might have considered that, following the twin strikes of lightning he enjoyed with Champion Hurdle hero Espoir D'Allen and seven-time Grade 1 winner Envoi Allen, the racing gods might make him wait his turn before another graduate rose to the very top.

But, after the AQPS alphabet calendar had turned merely a few clicks, the H year of 2017 births yielded another gem, even as those 2014 E-types were first making their way to the yards in Ireland that would propel them to stardom.

Hermes Allen is out of the Assessor mare Une Destine, a Grade 3 winner over hurdles at Auteuil on her final start. In sending her across the country from his base in the Allier to Normandy and Poliglote - in what turned out to be the penultimate covering season for Haras d'Etreham's multiple champion sire - Vagne was certainly giving her the best possible start to her breeding career.