Three talking points following another busy weekend of action

A two-year-old crop to relish

If 2018 is to be remembered for anything, it looks increasingly likely it will be for its outstanding crop of two-year-olds, with a host of exciting names set to keep Flat fans warm throughout the winter months.

Saturday's Vertem Futurity at Doncaster, the final Group 1 of the British Flat season, saw Magna Grecia, whose debut came less than a month earlier, come out on top and add his name to a crowded Qipco 2,000 Guineas picture that includes the likes of Too Darn Hot, Quorto, Calyx, Ten Sovereigns and more.

While the nature of the bunched finish could be a concern, the result was a satisfying one from a form point of view. Lope De Vega's son Phoenix Of Spain finished second, having won the Acomb Stakes prior to chasing home Too Darn Hot in the Champagne Stakes.

Watch Magna Grecia's Doncaster victory

The third-placed Western Australia also provides a level of solidity to the form following his fourth behind the well-regarded Persian King in the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket. The result will also raise the hype surrounding Dawn Approach's son Madhmoon, the form of whose Juvenile Stakes win at Leopardstown looks continuously stronger.

By way of comparison, the top ten two-year-olds by Racing Post Ratings for this year contains four horses rated 120 or higher whereas only one (US Navy Flag) reached such a mark last year.

For those whose pulse is quickened by top quality Flat racing, the sentiment is clear: roll on the spring!

Australia (centre) wins the 2014 Epsom Derby under Joseph O'BrienCredit: Charlie Crowhurst

Australia gaining momentum

While he has not provided any of the top ten highest rated juveniles by RPRs this year, there is a growing sense that Coolmore's Australia is a sire going places.

The dual Derby hero has done little wrong in his life to date. His breeding is immaculate and he lived up to that promise with three Group 1 wins but, perhaps unsurprisingly given the type of stallions enjoying market success at the moment, his stallion career has not generated all that much hype.

His yearlings have averaged only a shade below 86,000gns in Britain and Ireland in 2018, but the fact that from only 51 runners to have hit the track to date he has four to his name with an RPR in excess of 100 bodes well.

The Group 2 scorer Beyond Reason heads that quartet ahead of Saturday's Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud runner-up Sydney Opera House, Broome and the aforementioned Western Australia.

With reports many of his offspring have inherited his excellent temperament alongside the inescapable feeling that he will produce horses who improve with age and maturity, these are exciting times for patient owners and breeders, especially those who availed themselves of what looks an increasingly reasonable €35,000 covering fee in the last two years.

Invincible Spirit: another sire who appears to work well with Galileo maresCredit: Patrick McCann

A nick to note

Magna Grecia's pedigree gives some food for thought and his win will have been welcomed by the purchasers of yearlings at recent sales and those set to offer foals in the weeks to come.

By Invincible Spirit, he is out of the Galileo mare Cabaret and is one of 17 winners from 24 runners bred on the same cross. His success could see the number of similarly bred runners increase in the years to come, with Aidan O'Brien speaking to At The Races following Saturday's success about the pleasing blend of speed and stamina the combination can provide.

Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale saw two colts bred on the same cross offered, with Amanda Skiffington going to 600,000gns for a Ballylinch Stud son of Galvaun, a sister to Red Rocks.

At the Goffs Orby Sale, meanwhile, Willie McCreery may have picked up a bargain when going to €100,000 for a filly out of Toi Et Moi, offered by Mountain View Stud.

Looking ahead to the forthcoming foal sales, Deerpark Stud will offer an Invincible Spirit colt out of Jasmine Blue at Tattersalls, while at Goffs, although none of the three Invincible Spirit foals catalogued are out of Galileo mares, an Irish National Stud-consigned filly is out of Favonian, a daughter of Galileo's son Teofilo.

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