It was a battle of the O'Brien runners for St Leger glory at Doncaster on Saturday, with Jan Brueghel coming out on top in Britain's oldest Classic.
Punters felt like O'Brien held all the aces with his trio - Illinois, Jan Brueghel and Grosevnor - dominating the top-three in the betting and it proved to be correct with joint-favourite Jan Brueghel defeating his main market rival Illinois.
An eight-length victor of a Curragh maiden in May, the colt landed the ten-furlong Group 3 International Stakes at the same track on his second career start. Stepping up to twelve furlongs for the first time at Glorious Goodwood, the son of Galileo took the win by a neck ahead of Bellum Justum (winner in America on his subsequent start) but ran greenly throughout and shaped as though there was further improvement to come.
It was a similar story in the 1m6f Group 1 St Leger, with jockey Sean Levey having to sit up with the leaders as the colt took a strong hold in the early stages. He was asked to make a bid with a furlong to run to catch stablemate Illinois, and wavered for a second - again, showing signs of inexperience under pressure. To the colt's credit, he hit the front in the closing stages and held on well to repel Illinois by a neck with the Owen Burrows-trained Deira Mile back in third.
In an interview with ITV Racing, winning jockey Sean Levey said: "There's no doubt, we knew the track would suit, we knew the trip would suit. He's showed he's exceptional going that extra distance and he honestly feels like a Gold Cup horse in the making - don't be surprised if he stepped up a bit further next year.
"Look, there's no doubt that he's got a bit of class about him. When you ride exceptional horses like this, you get into a position where you're challenging for a win. This horse has done just that - I drew upsides the favourite, and Ryan (Moore) had said to me - just have it in mind that he's still a bit babyish and could stop.
"I fired my shot but gradually did so and was able to pop him in front when it mattered."
Aidan O'Brien, on duty at Leopardstown for Irish Champions weekend, was absent at Doncaster but part-owner Derrick Smith was present to watch the unbeaten colt land Classic glory.
He said: "To think that he hadn't been on a racecourse until the 25th of May. Sean (Levey) said he was still very babyish and he's going to come on for the run, so fantastic - everything to look forward to.
Of Illinois, Smith added: "He ran a very sound race. Maybe if they had gone a little bit quicker, his stamina may have come into play - all maybes. It's a great result for us and he lost nothing in defeat."
