Jury still out on Churchill but there are reasons for optimism

Is he just a good one or is he better than that? Having proved no match for Ulysses in the Juddmonte International on Wednesday, Churchill still has it to prove if he is to be considered more than a good one.

It can’t be said that the dual Guineas winner failed to stay the mile-and-a-quarter Juddmonte trip. He kept going inside the final furlong and a tilt at the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes in 13 days' time now looks the next likely target for the four-time Group 1 winner.

Taking into account the fact that Churchill had not run since his inexplicable flop in the St James’s Palace Stakes, there is every chance he will improve from the York race and give Aidan O’Brien a serious chance of landing the big Leopardstown event for the eighth time, and for the first time since So You Think was successful six years ago.