DEEP Impact was expected to sire a European classic winner last weekend, Saxon Warrior starting a very warm favourite for the Epsom Derby. That particular dream was not realised, but there was fair compensation when his son Study Of Man built on a previous lifetime best performance of landing the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe by winning the Group 1 QIPCO Prix du Jockey Club, the French Derby.

Study Of Man was bred and is raced by the Niarchos family’s Flaxman Holdings Ltd, and the son of Deep Impact (Sunday Silence) is the second classic winner in the last couple of weeks from a female line that has been very successful for the breeders. Miesque (Nureyev) was one of the best ever racehorses to don the distinctive Niarchos silks, and she is the grandam of Study Of Man and the third dam of the Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas winner Alpha Centauri (Mastercraftsman).