Racing gods smiling on one of a kind after Alpinista takes Prescott to summit

Sir Mark Prescott should allow himself extra time to get around the yearlings he would like to see at Tattersalls this week. This stickler for punctuality, whose every day is divided into precise segments, will be besieged by well-wishers after Alpinista planted the Heath House pennant atop the Arc de Triomphe.

And for good reason. Prescott is to training what the rhino is to the animal kingdom: a throwback to the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and the spring and autumn doubles were held in as much esteem as the Classics.

Talking of which, Alpinista’s fourth dam Alruccaba bred another filly with whom Prescott felt sure he would win the Cesarewitch, the second leg of the autumn double and a race that has famously eluded him, in 2001. Alleluia had her trainer chanting her name at night with visions of delivering the Gospel according to Saint Mark in the winner’s enclosure at Newmarket.