Excelebration wise after the event in Breeders’ Cup Mile

Excelebration could finish only fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on a day of fluctuating emotions for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Ballydoyle’s big hope for the self-styled ‘World Championships’ was no match for the impressive Wise Dan, who readily defeated last year’s Kentucky Derby hero Animal Kingdom by a length and a half.

O’Brien accepted the residue from his remarkable victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot just 13 days earlier had perhaps not been fully erased.