Six things to take away from the weekend's racing

Marsha has taken the Mecca's Angel role

History is unlikely to place the 2016 Prix de l’Abbaye alongside the day Pete Sampras faced a 19-year-old Roger Federer over the net at Wimbledon, but it is beginning to look like a symbolic generational transition: when the outgoing champion five-furlong mare, Mecca’s Angel, gave way to Marsha.

Marsha beat seven of the Temple Stakes field at Newmarket three weeks agoCredit: Edward Whitaker

Trainer Sir Mark Prescott had his facts right afterwards: not since Lochsong, perhaps Britain's greatest sprinting mare of modern times, had a horse carried a Group 1 penalty to win the Palace House. Marsha did so against the grain, conceding not just weight but race fitness to Washington DC.

It is hard to see what will compete with her among the older British sprinters this year, and her meeting with overseas challengers Lady Aurelia and Acapulco at Royal Ascot could be one of the most keenly anticipated all-female clashes in years.

O'Brien is ready to take a chance with Churchill

It was John Gosden who brought the term 'rolling the big dice' into racing parlance, but murmurings after the 2,000 Guineas suggest that the normally more cautious Aidan O'Brien could be ready to do the same with Churchill.

To watch Churchill winning on Saturday, and take a glance at his pedigree, you would have been offered short odds about the Irish Guineas and St James's Palace being his next two starts, the same route walked by Gleneagles.

O'Brien made much more positive noises about the Derby than expected, and maybe Gleneagles is part of the reason. Coolmore do not need another miler son of Galileo on their stallion roster – after the last two years, Gleneagles and The Gurkha have that covered.

Unfettered this time by the pressures of the covering shed, O'Brien perhaps fancies pulling up a chair at Gosden’s table.

There is more intrigue among the three-year-olds

News of a potential Derby bid for the 2,000 Guineas winner is clearly exciting, but it came just as we were starting to look forward to the Guineas rematch.

While Churchill was clearly the best horse on the day, he got a dream run while the same could not be said of either Barney Roy or Al Wukair, who did well to get as close as they did in the circumstances.

Ryan Moore was keen to imply that Churchill was not at his limit, but it is not hard to imagine the placed horses would extend him further in any subsequent meetings. Even if Churchill does go up in trip, hopefully Barney Roy and Al Wukair will hang around at a mile until at least Royal Ascot.

Another Triple Crown tremor in the US

With a few caveats, Always Dreaming can only be described as a convincing winner of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday night. Those types normally go on to take the Preakness and put America in the admittedly fairly regular grip of Triple Crown fever.

There are some parallels between his success and that of Churchill. He too got a perfect run on the sloppy track, unlike certain beaten horses. In this case it was the luckless Classic Empire, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner who did remarkably well to finish fourth.

Both sides will be catered for in Baltimore in a couple of weeks' time. The likeliest outcome is a Triple Crown bid for Always Dreaming at Belmont, while those who fear a procession can pin their hopes on the highly talented Classic Empire.

Incidentally, the win was a fifth in a row for favourites in the Kentucky Derby. It is surely not a coincidence this streak began at the same time as the new qualifying criteria were brought in, which gave greater weighting to those likely to stay the trip and has seemingly – and logically, on the surface – yielded results that follow the form book.

Somehow goes anyhow

In entering the Lockinge picture with an effortless success in the Dahlia Stakes, Somehow also made her claim to become the Flat's Vroum Vroum Mag. She was an Oaks trial winner at Chester last year but has improved significantly since dropping back below ten furlongs for her last four starts.

On top of that, she has winning form on heavy right up to Sunday's success on quick ground, so would not be inconvenienced however the weather treats Newbury over the next two weeks.

There is likely to be further work to do if she is to match up to Galileo Gold or Ribchester in the Lockinge, but she does at least seem to have progressive form and adaptability on her side.

Fanned out at the finish of the Qipco 1,000 GuineasCredit: Mark Cranham

O'Brien has bases covered with star fillies

In an ideal world, we might have seen a closer run race in both Guineas. Where Barney Roy and Al Wukair suffered, so did Rhododendron to an even greater extent.

Winter is a top-notch and progressive filly and probably has more Group 1 success to come, given she put so much distance between herself and the main body of the field.

Whether Rhododendron would have caught her with a clear run is a moot point, mostly because her future undoubtedly lies over further. It should be fairly easy to keep the two apart and they could conceivably win the Irish Guineas, Oaks and Coronation Stakes between them before the rest have enough time to catch up.

It seems as though some of their rivals on Sunday will go the other way. Daban seemed to get the mile perfectly well, but according to initial indications will drop in trip, while Poet's Vanity also caught the eye before fading and could be one to make an impact over shorter.