Poor year for two-year-olds suggests Classic winners may not have even raced yet

The necessitated restructure of this season was always likely to have an impact on the class of 2020. Carefully honed training schedules, particularly in the build-up to Royal Ascot, were thrown into disarray and even the Ballydoyle behemoth was derailed to an extent.

Aidan O'Brien made it plain that there would be an element of rushed preparation in order to build a competitive team for the Royal meeting and, while a series of impressive winning debutants arrived intent on carrying all before them, only Battleground, a well-beaten fifth on his debut, managed to deliver. He then built on success in the Chesham (101) with a comfortable win in Goodwood's Vintage Stakes (111).

Battleground had the potential to be top of the tree among the juveniles, but he missed his domestic Group 1 engagement in the National Stakes and was just below his best when beaten at the Breeders' Cup.