ONE of the most unfortunate aspects of the season is that it didn’t give the chance to see Alan King’s Trueshan and the perennial champion stayer Stradivarius fight out a series of battles on the track, with the former a late withdrawal three times due to fast ground in races won by John and Thady Gosden’s seven-year-old chesnut.

The pair were meeting for the second time in a fortnight, however, in the Group 2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup and Trueshan under Hollie Doyle confirmed the Prix du Cadran form without having to be at his best in a race Frankie Dettori will want to forget.