THE Ballydoyle juvenile talent conveyor belt kept rolling at the Curragh on Saturday, with maiden wins for Diego Velazquez and Cherry Blossom, both impressive in their own different ways.

The colt, who had not had a smooth preparation to the race, looked particularly green throughout before powering away late, his final three-furlong sectional surpassed only by the five-furlong sprint handicappers at the end of the card while the filly posted an excellent overall time, just 0.08 seconds slower than the Phoenix winner.

Those wins brought Aidan O’Brien’s record with two-year-olds in Ireland and Britain this year to 29 winners from 91 runners, a strike rate of 31.9%, and this is just the second time since 2005 he has surpassed a 30% juvenile strike rate in the last 20 years, 2013 being the other stellar year with 35.9% at season’s end.

When those two Saturday winners are added to the likes of City Of Troy, River Tiber, Henry Longfellow, Ylang Ylang and Matrika, it seems reasonable to ask if this is the best team of O’Brien juveniles ever?

It might be premature to call that in mid-August, and the whole debate might be more suited to the fan-pages so don’t shout at me please, but in my subjective view they are the best of recent years.

2022 was a strong crop though their legacy is tarnished by three of their number already being retired (Little Big Bear, Blackbeard and Meditate) while one wonders if Auguste Rodin and Statuette will ever fulfill their potential.

The years 2016 to 2018 were a golden time, certainly in terms of good races won in this part of the world, as Ballydoyle won at least 22 group or listed races in Ireland and Britain during each season.

2018 lead onto the 2019 Derby where O’Brien had the winner and four of the first five in that race covered by less than a length, though in terms of overall depth across a number of divisions perhaps the 2017 crop was best and produced the filly with supreme longevity in Magical.

2011 and 2005 were also strong groups with real star quality via Camelot and George Washington though this 2023 has a true ‘Dream Team’ feel to it along with a trainer and stable jockey at the top of their games.

GALWAY is rightly the focus in the middle part of the summer but as we head deeper into August, the attention turns to Irish Champions Weekend, sorry, Irish Champions Festival, and the road to that meeting runs squarely through the Curragh.

Flat HQ will host five cards this month, all of them feeding into ICF to one degree or other, and the Phoenix Stakes meeting kicked things off on Saturday.

There is not much to be said about the feature itself; Bucanero Fuerte made it a one-horse race from halfway though we could perhaps stretch that to one and half as Porta Fortuna did travel well for a long way.

In winning by four lengths, he extended his previous superiority over both Givemethebeatboys and Unquestionable, allowing both had excuses of sorts, the former coming off a break and the latter getting upset in the stalls while also losing a shoe.

Still, this was a dominant win from a horse with an unusual profile; there cannot be too many horses that win on the first day of the turf season and then have an 87-day break by design but that move has proved inspired.

Though an opening day winner, Bucanero Fuerte looked much more than an early type, towering over his rivals at the Curragh in March, and is hardly bred to be sharp, his full brother Wooded who won a Foret and didn’t break his maiden until the August of his juvenile season.

In opting to take nearly three months off, it is doubtful Bucanero Fuerte missed many races of account and remains relatively fresh for one that was out at the first opportunity. It now seems that he may have needed the run in the Coventry where in any case he might have been the best horse, racing away from the other principals.

Since then, he has progressed twice to win the Railway and the Phoenix, on both occasions shaping like seven furlongs would suit, and while City Of Tory looms large in the National Stakes, it is difficult to argue that he is the two-year-old colt with most done at this point.

FOLLOWING the win of Grappa Nonino in the staying handicap at the Curragh on Sunday, Dermot Weld praised Chris Hayes’ ride as the jockey managed to slot in from stall 17 in a 21-runner field to hold a good position tracking the pace.

Weld went on to say that he thought there was a fast strip up the far rail where fresh ground had been kept for the second day of the meeting and looking at the rest of the races on the card, it looked a distinct advantage to race tight to that far side, along with having a prominent position as it has done throughout this summer at the Curragh.

It makes sense not to get too drawn into those horses that won impressively having held advantageous track positions while being forgiving of those that made their challenges more up the middle of the track.

Unless looked to have things go her way in the featured Michael John Kennedy Stakes as she basically made all along the ‘hot rail’, but the third Alanya seemed to run a huge race facing the twin disadvantages of coming from behind up the middle of the track.

The notably slow pace makes the form somewhat suspect, but Alanya made a very promising start to her Irish career, winning the Ladies Derby on her first start before meeting trouble on unsuitable ground at Galway, and while a mark of 85 meant she looked out of her depth, there seemed no fluke about the run.

The big field seven-furlong handicap won by Goldmoyne was dominated by horses that went forward towards the far rail and in those circumstances both the seventh Tiktok Time and the 11th Bright Dick did well to finish as close they did, having raced in rear up the middle of the track.

Their closing three-furlong sectionals were only marginally slower than the winner and runner-up and Bright Dick should be suited by going back up to a mile having previously caught the eye over that trip at Galway.

Ray Cody is having a fine season with his small team and his Lady Lunette did very well to win the closing mile handicap for fillies and mares.

She had gone up 12lbs for winning a maiden at Gowran on her previous start which looked on the harsh side, but she made little of the hike, coming from much further back than the two she beat and making her run up the middle of the track.

Her trainer said afterwards that she is “big [and] raw, more of a next year filly” but judged on this it would be no surprise to see her progress to listed class.