O'Brien has not only won the past five editions of his country's premier contest, worth €1.25m (£1.1m) this time, and eight in all, but has provided three clean sweeps, most recently when Cape Blanco beat stablemates Midas Touch and Jan Vermeer 12 months ago.
Flanagan, in his 30th paid contest, was worth his win against Mathews, having his 50th contest.
Apple's Next Product Contest [Worth 1000].
Even in a summer when England's sledging has pushed the boundaries of acceptability, the best contests are well worth restaging.
There are also a couple of other West Yorkshire contests that are worth watching even though they have never been seen as "swing" seats until recent years.
"If there is a race or contest that is worth doing because the job is worth doing," he went on, "I would do it".
For such a contest to be worth analysing at great length, there has to be a minimum of symmetry between the contenders: they have to have comparable aims and be competing in the same strategic arena.
Although Virginia likes to be known as the Mother of Presidents, having produced eight, for generations the Old Dominion has been so reliably Republican in Presidential general elections that its vote was scarcely worth contesting.
True, other contenders are contesting the event worth £2,214,279 to the winner – not least New Bay, trained by André Fabre, chasing his eighth Arc success – but a duel within a race is what often electrifies the imagination, and this time it is the face-off between Dettori, 44, and Jarnet, 48, both of whose fortunes have surged late in their careers.
