Blackbeard, The Antarctic Head Prix Morny

When there is a change of emphasis at Ballydoyle, the repercussions can be felt far and wide.

A record 17 wins in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (G1) tells you where Aidan O'Brien's best midsummer talents have been aimed, while of the four Coolmore runners to win or be placed in the Darley Prix Morny (G1) over the last decade, No Nay Never  and Hootenanny   were trained by Wesley Ward, while last year's runner-up Trident  hailed from Andre Fabre's yard.

O'Brien has made less of a priority of the Morny in years when he has not had the extraordinary strength in depth he boasts in the division this year.

Little Big Bear  has grabbed the lion's share of the headlines but the trainer will send out Blackbeard  and The Antarctic , highly rated in their own right, in the Aug. 21 race. The two juveniles have been sent to France for lead-up races that O'Brien has largely ignored historically, and they finished one-two in the Darley Prix Robert Papin (G2).

The Antarctic then returned to France and disposed of his rivals in the Darley Prix de Cabourg (G3), a race in which O'Brien had never previously had a runner.

This domination of the prep races partly explains why no French-based trainer has felt it worth running in the country's first juvenile group 1 of the year.

Blackbeard was clearly superior to his stablemate in the Papin and although the French handicapper raised The Antarctic by three pounds for his win in the Cabourg, he still faces a big task to turn round the Chantilly form.

"Blackbeard won very nicely at Chantilly on his last run and this has been the plan with him since," O'Brien said. "He came out of that race well. The Antarctic ran a good race behind Blackbeard and bounced out really well to win at this track last time. He's been in good form since and hopefully will give another good account of himself."

Persian Force  finished seven lengths adrift of Little Big Bear in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (G1) but there are sound reasons for Richard Hannon to believe that the Coventry Stakes (G2) runner-up did not give his true running.

"I was amazed by the race in Ireland," trainer Richard Hannon said of Persian Force. "I was staggered that something could beat him that far. This is a good opportunity for him, he's a very good horse and I hope he's able to show it on Sunday."

Richard Fahey and Christophe Soumillon teamed up to win this with Perfect Power 12 months ago and the same combination are represented by Norfolk Stakes (G2) winner The Ridler . The horses who filled the places at Ascot have not done too much to advertise the form, but The Ridler looks as though he will appreciate an extra furlong.

"I'm looking forward to stepping him up to six," Fahey said. "We gave him a little break as he'd had four runs. This is his race because he needs to be running in group 1s and the Phoenix would have come quick enough. The break has done him a world of good."

Manhattan Jungle , the only filly in the race, ran on well from off the pace to be only a length adrift of The Antarctic in the Cabourg. While pari-mutuel and fixed-odds punters will make her the fifth of five, she has earned her place in the line-up.

The winner of the 6-furlong Morny is guaranteed an automatic starting position into the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series.