THERE is no avoiding it, but it is time to look at another Northern Farm bred winner in Riyadh at the weekend, the Group 2 Turf Sprint heroine Ascoli Piceno, another success for a dominant Japan.

In fact, that country provided the 1-2 in the Turf Sprint over just short of seven furlongs. Win Marvel was caught on the line by Ascoli Piceno. Christophe Lemaire timing his run to perfection on the four-year-old Daiwa Major (Sunday Silence) filly, and her record now stands at five wins and two seconds in eight starts. The Yoichi Kuroiwa-trained Ascoli Piceno won the Group 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in Japan, after which she was voted champion two-year-old filly, and she was runner-up twice at that level, including the Japanese 1000 Guineas, all over a mile.