Racing: O'Neill forced to share the Champagne

"That's his style of running," Eoghan O'Neill, Silent Times's trainer, said. "He's got to run that way. He's a strong horse with a lovely big stride and there's no point in holding him up. You have to let him use himself, enjoy himself. He trains on his own at home. He never gallops with another horse."

Silent Times, somewhat ambitiously, is now a consideration for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, though, like everything else at O'Neill's yard, he is on the market.

Lofty aspirations are also held for Close To You, providing he gets the firm ground which suits. "He'll be an absolute monster when he finds his ground," Richard Ryan, assistant to trainer Terry Mills, said. "He's been flying at home, murdering older horses regularly. We know we've got something special. He'll be Guineas bound next year."