Classy Cat has O’Brien purring
In a race billed as a clash of two potential champions it was the home team who came out smiling as British raider Three Valleys, the odds-on favourite, failed to fire and could finish only third behind a Ballydoyle one-two.
One Cool Cat was slashed into 4-1 by Ladbrokes for next year's 2000 Guineas, although he is 7-1 with Cashmans.
The most exciting aspect of his career so far is that the improvement he has shown in his four races suggests he can only get better as he gains experience and races over longer distances.
From the start, Kinane adopted the same confident tactics he had used to such good effect in the colt's last victory in the Anglesey Stakes.
The 11-8 chance always travelled powerfully off the pace before powering into the lead at the furlong pole and staying on well to beat stablemate Old Deuteronomy himself showing a welcome return to top form by one length.
"The amazing thing is he is not a six-furlong horse at all," smiled O'Brien, clearly enjoying a red-letter day for the stable.
"He is crying out for seven or a mile, but that's how good he is. He is so relaxed. So natural.
"He has all the options the National Stakes or the Dewhurst or the Racing Post Trophy.
"He is a unique horse. It is his moves in the middle of his work that knock you dead watching him. And he is still only a baby."
O'Brien also welcomed Old Deuteronomy's improved showing.
"I shouldn't have run him at Goodwood last time," he said. "Fifteen minutes before racing it rained heavily and it turned the going soft.
"Jamie Spencer said that it was like a car's wheels spinning in the mud.
"Before that, when he ran at Royal Ascot he got upset in the stalls and reared up, but that was his real form again today."
In contrast, Roger Charlton found it impossible to disguise his immense disappointment at the performance of Three Valleys, who hit the front a furlong and a half out but had nothing left to give as the first two went by.
"I am very disappointed," he said. "All of his homework has been exceptional and I would have thought him well capable of being rated well over 120.
"Richard (Hughes) said he moved beautifully to post but that he was just never travelling in the way he did at Ascot.
"He doesn't seem to be distressed now and it's hard to know what to make of it. Maybe it was just one of those days."
However, Charlton was feeling slightly less perplexed after the racecourse vet conducted tests on the colt shortly after the race.
"The vet says there is a lot of mucus in him, which would definitely have affected his performance," he reported.
"I am feeling a little better about things now as at least we know it wasn't his true running."
Cashmans pushed Three Valleys right out to 25-1 from 7-1 in their Guineas betting.
Meanwhile High Chaparral rewarded his supporters as he made a winning comeback from injury.
Last year's dual Derby winner was strangely unpopular in the betting ring and drifted out to odds against, before late support sent him off the 9-10 favourite for the Royal Whip Stakes.
He showed all his old sparkle to take the Group Two contest, although he appeared to get a little tired when hitting the front under Michael Kinane.
Travelling strongly, he was asked to quicken over a furlong out and swept past his rivals before hanging slightly right in the closing stages.
That allowed Imperial Dancer to close down the margin of victory, but he was still three-quarters of a length behind at the line.
High Chaparral collected a shoulder injury in the spring which delayed his seasonal reappearance and it seemed as if the calculated gamble of keeping the colt in training after his excellent campaign in 2002 might not pay off.
But with this victory, he moved back on schedule for an autumn campaign that will be centred on Longchamp's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and a possible return trip Stateside to the Breeders' Cup meeting at Santa Anita.
He signed off with success in the Breeders' Cup Turf last year.
"All ground comes alike to him but he won't be risked if it isn't safe we need him around this autumn," said trainer Aidan O'Brien.
"I think Mick was very impressed with him there. He pricked his ears and got a bit tired when he hit the front, but that was to be expected.
"He was very mature at two and three and all I ever wanted was for him to retain his ability. The choices for him now are one of the Arc trials at Longchamp (the Prix Foy) or the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown."
O'Brien reflected on the problems which delayed his charge's return to the fray.
"He just stopped dead when he was working, which is usually a very bad sign," he said. "But we gave him all the time he needed and when he cantered here three weeks ago he showed the right signs.
"It has been a nervous time. I saw (fellow trainer) John Hassett on the way in and he said 'What are you doing here? He should be jumping up on mares now'."
Ladbrokes cut High Chaparral's price for the Arc into 5-1 from 6-1. Dalakhani remains 5-2 favourite.
O'Brien had earlier introduced a smart newcomer to the game in the opening Waterford Crystal EBF Maiden as Troubador made a winning bow.
The 100-30 chance was easy to back but landed a forthright success under Kinane, beating favourite Ulfah by three and a half lengths.
"He is a big baby," said O'Brien of the Danehill colt, owned jointly by Robert Sangster and John Magnier.
"We won't overdo him and he might have just one more run this season. He got away as a yearling and nearly killed himself but ended up with just superficial injuries, so we are lucky to have him at all."
