"It would be a large irony, indeed, if Magnier & Co. pulled a Kentucky Derby runner out of the UAE Derby hat in Sheikh Mohammed's backyard."

"For while their achievements together have lent an air of immutability to the partnership between O'Brien and his patrons at Coolmore Stud, the man himself shares no such illusions. Sooner or later, he candidly expects the emperors -- John Magnier, and his partners at Coolmore -- to end up with a new general. Already there are intimations of a long-term shift."