Words of wit and wisdom from Bolger as Poetic Flare highlights the genius of Jim

Jim Bolger, a generous soul, has previously been happy to share in past glories with Sheikh Mohammed. The Coolcullen farmer may even have enjoyed some pecuniary benefit from a few of those deals, but he also knows when to keep as well as when to sell – and as Godolphin's founder discovered on Saturday, Bolger kept a good one in Poetic Flare.

In the autumn of 2007 Sheikh Mohammed first bought 50 per cent and then 100 per cent of the Bolger homebred New Approach, who went on to win the Derby after being inched out of the 2,000 Guineas. As part of the sale, Bolger acquired breeding rights to the horse, with one mating resulting in Dawn Approach, also sold to Sheikh Mohammed as a juvenile and then triumphant in the Guineas eight years ago.

Through the closing stages of the latest Newmarket Classic, the two men, both absent from the Rowley Mile, were on different sides. It was Bolger who emerged victorious as Dawn Approach's son Poetic Flare won another bobbing finish, defeating Godolphin's Master Of The Seas by a short-head.