Circus Maximus Comes of Age in St. James's Palace

Circus Maximus gave Aidan O'Brien a record eighth win in the St. James's Palace Stakes (G1) June 18, as he first outbattled Too Darn Hot before holding off the late lunge of King of Comedy.

Supplemented after finishing sixth in the Investec Derby (G1), Circus Maximus was the beneficiary of a fine ride from Ryan Moore, who kicked at the perfect time on the winner to secure a second success in the race after Gleneagles in 2015.

Sent off at 10-1, Circus Maximus had previously come up short at the group level, but he relished the drop back to a mile to come out on top in the colors of the Niarchos family's Flaxman Stables and the Coolmore partners.

"He's got plenty of speed and his dam Duntle was good," said Moore. "He's not short of pace, but he's just a little bit slow coming to himself and learning about it all.

"Fair play to Aidan who called me on Monday morning to say he was putting him in. I thought if you supplement you have to win, but he knew this horse had talent.

"He ran a good race in the Derby and just didn't stay. When Too Darn Hot got to me, he didn't go by me and I knew this lad would keep finding."

Moore was always well placed behind the leaders with the early pace courtesy of Fox Champion.

Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner Phoenix of Spain was the first to tackle the leader in the straight but as he struggled to get on top, Moore and Circus Maximus swept through to lead.

From the pursuers came Too Darn Hot, who looked like he might be about to regain his magical juvenile form but, try as he might, he could never quite get on terms as Circus Maximus knuckled down.

Having fended one John Gosden-trained runner off, another appeared on the outside, as King of Comedy came from an impossible position to chase down the winner. His challenge ultimately was too late as he failed by a neck with 2-1 favorite Too Darn Hot a further three-quarters of a length away in third.

Reflecting on his eighth win in the group 1 contest, O'Brien said: "It's unbelievable and we're privileged to be a small part of it.

"It was a big challenge for the horse. He was going to have to deal with coming back in trip and that's why he had the blinkers on because he didn't have much time to learn.

"We were worried, having gone a mile and a half, the pace would be completely different over a mile, but we're delighted."

'All Down to Aiden' Say Owners of Circus Maximus

He said it was down to them. They said it was down to him.

Given there were more of them, and considering O'Brien is an unassuming genius, they were almost certainly the ones telling the truth, and happily so, after Circus Maximus won them all the St James's Palace Stakes.

It was not necessarily a shock victory, for when Ryan Moore rides a Ballydoyle-based son of Galileo in a Royal Ascot group 1, there is always a fair chance that among those celebrating in the winner's enclosure will be John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith. On this occasion they celebrated in the rain and heaped praise on their sensational trainer.

That trainer already held the record for St James's Palace wins but his haul has now increased from seven to eight. Yet this time last week nobody could have predicted he would win it with Circus Maximus, a colt wearing first-time blinkers who had last been seen finishing a sixth by 5 3/4 lengths in the Derby under Frankie Dettori.

That he was next seen defeating John Gosden-trained stable companions King of Comedy and Too Darn Hot in Royal Ascot's opening day highlight was not something that could be easily predicted. Sometimes, however, things happen. What happened in this instance is Coolmore's QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner Magna Grecia was ruled out of Ascot, following which O'Brien came up with the idea Circus Maximus should be ruled in. He has an inordinately large number of good ideas. This was one of them.

To get him into the race 'the lads' had to approve a £45,000 supplementary entry, as did Maria Niarchos.

So, who had the moment of inspiration?

"Maria and Derrick and John and Michael all decided between themselves and let us know," said O'Brien. "We then ran with it. That's exactly what happened."

Tabor let it be known O'Brien was a big part of it.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "Only Aidan can produce them like that. I've learned not to argue with him. He is just right so many times. It's incredible, it really is. He's a fantastic trainer.

"In life the proof of the pudding is in the eating. There are good talkers but it's the good doers that count."

So, it was Aidan, then?

"That was Aidan's suggestion, yeah," said Magnier, to whom it was suggested O'Brien was therefore being exceptionally modest.

"Well, he's always like that, isn't he," added Magnier, whose next sentence seemingly applied to both horse and trainer. "Nothing surprises me," he said. "He wasn't far behind Phoenix of Spain in the group 1 as a 2-year-old. Put a pair of blinkers on him, add a bit of luck, and you get a different result. That's the game. We didn't spend the £45,000 for nothing. He had a shot."

As the plot continued to unravel, the words of Magnier and Tabor were put to O'Brien.



"No, no, they decided," he said, but with a smile and twinkle that revealed plenty. He also revealed the winner had long been held in high regard.

"Frankie loved him at Epsom but said the track wasn't for him, which is why he came back to a mile," said O'Brien.

"We put the blinkers on him as we wanted to sharpen him a bit. He needed to be very focused but didn't have much time to learn. What we asked him to do was unfair really. He produced, though, and Ryan gave him a great ride."

The horse given that ride will now likely be campaigned between a mile and 1 1/4 miles. For Too Darn Hot, even a mile on Ascot's rain-softened ground was too much.

"He came there to win and I hit the front but in the last 100 yards he didn't have the legs for it," reflected Dettori, while King of Comedy's rider Adam Kirby, who directed his mount wide to challenge, said: "I pulled out to have a run at them, so it was uncomplicated. Had I stayed on the fence it probably would have opened up but hindsight is a marvellous thing."

Even Aidan O'Brien lacks the powers of hindsight. His foresight, on the other hand, is utterly remarkable.