Wheels in motion as winning machine looks to produce next star

Horses come and go, yet the departure of some can be more poignant than others.

As Richard Fahey surveys the landscape at the start of his 25th full season as a trainer, he does so without the best horse he has trained following the retirement to stud of four-time Group 1 winner Ribchester.

It is going to be an uphill struggle to match a vintage 2017 when Fahey collected record prize-money of more than £4.2 million and 200 winners, and Ribchester delivered the amiable Irishman his first domestic top-flight victories in the Lockinge and Queen Anne Stakes.