Sometimes, predictability is beautiful...

It was a day that the sun gave after it had taken.

Just over three hours before Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby came the expected but unwanted news that Epsom Derby runner-up Kingston Hill would not run due to the quick ground conditions.

In that moment the prospect of Ireland’s premier Classic being anything resembling a contest disappeared. The outcome was inevitable: it would be yet another g’day for Australia and team Ballydoyle.