Bolshoi Ballet magic show proves Aidan O'Brien knew what he was doing all along

Aidan O'Brien turns out to be one of those magicians who make you think everything is going wrong and then, after the scenery has collapsed and it looks like he really did smash that guy's watch with a hammer, you find out he knew what he was doing all along. Here we all were, worrying that Kyprios had fluffed his lines and High Definition had vanished into thin air, only for Coolmore's conjuror to reveal he had a Derby horse in his back pocket the whole time.

At some point in the next three weeks, pundits various will seek to pick apart what Bolshoi Ballet has achieved with the aim of justifying their fancy for something else at a bigger price. But a six-length success in the Derrinstown, with a Group 1-winning rival among the defeated, would make him a strong Classic contender in any year, never mind a season like this one, when the response to the other trials has been a collective: 'Meh'.

Bolshoi Ballet is clear under Ryan Moore in the Derrinstown Stud Derby TrialCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Did you see him coming? Probably not from his fifth place in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud or his status as a brother to Southern France, the seventh horse home in the 2018 Cesarewitch. Ah yes, he did win the Ballysax, but that came the day after the Grand National and, in common with all other journalists, I was trying to think of new things to write about Rachael Blackmore that day. I blame the race planners.