With the weekend concentration on two-year-olds, Aidan O'Brien received the sad news yesterday that Fasliyev, probably the best of his hugely successful juvenile team, will never race again.
The Nureyev colt fractured his off-fore pastern in an accident on Thursday and five pins were placed in a fetlock during an operation at Troytown veterinary hospital yesterday.
The positive news is that the operation went well and although the next fortnight will be vital, the signs are good that Fasliyev will be saved for stallion duties at Coolmore Stud.
O'Brien said yesterday: "He is over the operation and everything seems to have gone well. Being realistic he won't race again but he should be okay for stallion duties."
The Ballydoyle trainer's main focus today will be on Newmarket's Dewhurst Stakes where he runs Zentsov Street and Brahms against the top English juveniles Distant Music and Kings Best.
However, he will also be keeping an eye on the Group Three Juddmonte Beresfors Stakes at the Curragh where he saddles four of the seven runners.
O'Brien has won the last three renewals of this race and although he has had to jig around his jockey arrangements with Michael Kinane at Newmarket, Lermontov appears to be the stable's number one hope.
Such an admission is unlikely to come from the cautious O'Brien but he did comment yesterday: "We have always thought Lermontov will be a nice colt and when he won at Gowran he was very impressive."
On the assumption then that Lermontov is the best of the Ballydoyle team, the best of the rest looks to be Dermot Weld's Sharp Focus who missed out on the Grand Criterium to wait for this and has a fine rating based on his Nursery success under 9.7 at Leopardstown over a month ago.
However, 56 two-year-old successes for the Ballydoyle team this term testifies to their strength and the Alleged colt Lermontov can show his true merit today.
The other black type event, the Listed Waterford Testimonial Stakes, can fall to Weld though through that teak tough handicapper Social Harmony.
An interesting opponent however is John Oxx's Namid. He looks the main danger to Social Harmony.
Weld also looks to have the winning of the two mile October Handicap with Clever Consul who ran a fine neck second to Bob What at the Galway festival with the smart Akasian nine lengths back in third.
For good measure, it should also pay to side with Weld and Pat Smullen in the last through the easy Down Royal winner Hadeb who looks on the improve and is marginally preferred to the O'Brien trained Twickenham.
