Aidan O’Brien had a mixed time at Newmarket’s July meeting where his star sprinter Caravaggio met with his first defeat but the three days also yielded a Group 1 victory and a pair of Group 2 triumphs.

Caravaggio who was unable to justify his position as the odds on favourite for the July Cup when finishing fourth to old rival Harry Angel.

The son of Scat Daddy didn’t run at all badly in being beaten less than two lengths and his trainer was typically gracious in defeat afterwards.

However, there is a suspicion that we did not see the best of Caravaggio at Newmarket and being held up off what was quite a steady pace didn’t aid his cause.

Furthermore, he finished only a neck in front of stablemate Intelligence Cross which would offer further evidence that he wasn’t at his best.

All this should in no way detract from the winner who is also an exceptional three-year-old sprinter.

It is to be hoped that we will get to see a third clash between Caravaggio and Harry Angel later this season.

Elsewhere at Newmarket the teak tough Roly Poly, who has steadily worked her way back to form this season, bagged another edition of the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes for O’Brien. This daughter of War Front progressed into a high class juvenile during a busy campaign last season and has steadily worked her way back to peak form this season.

On the same afternoon the hugely talented Clemmie followed up a recent Group 3 win at the Curragh with a Group 2 success which cemented her position as one of this year’s star juvenile fillies. She should be able to make her mark at the highest level this season.

In terms of O’Brien’s juvenile colts the last few days offered up a few major pointers for the classics of 2018. At Newmarket on Saturday Gustav Klimt worked nothing short of a miracle to land the Group 2 Superlative Stakes.

Despite enduring the most troubled of passages Gustav Klimt somehow carried the day by a head and the manner in which he pulled victory out of the fire would suggest he would have won this race in some style with a clear run. He looks every inch 2000 Guineas material.

Earlier that afternoon The Pentagon annihilated his rivals in a seven furlongs Curragh maiden. This colt was well held on soft ground on his debut but turned in a revelatory display here and such was his dominance that he had this race in safe keeping from shortly after halfway. It is very early days but he might just be a Derby horse in the making.

the sales front

Following a heartening round of National Hunt store sales there was further good news on the sales front as the Tattersalls July Sale broke new ground last week. Fresh from recording a record breaking set of results in 2016, the mixed sale once again saw records tumble.

An aggregate of over 14.6m gns was a progression of 19 percent on last year. The average of 25,595gns also finished 19 points ahead of 2016 while the median grew by 20 percent to 12,000gns. As ever the sale benefitted from a diverse international buying base and demand for decent form horses and attractive breeding prospects was in evidence throughout the three days.