Blanco Finally Silences the Critics

The runaway victory of Aidan O'Brien's flashy chestnut colt Cape Blanco in the Group 1 Tattersalls Million Irish Champion Stakes at the Curragh must finally have been enough to convince those that have doubted the quality of his previous form, that here is a horse who deserves his place right up there with the very best of the current crop, writes Elliot Slater.

Most of the pre-race talk was of whether or not Rip Van Winkle would confirm his half-length defeat of old rival Twice Over in the Juddmonte International Stakes last month (he did; they ran to within a pound of their York form in finishing second and third), but neither the odds-on favourite, nor Henry Cecil's Coral Eclipse Stakes winner was a match for the tremendous pace and stamina shown by Seamie Heffernan's mount.

Already this season, Cape Blanco had easily beaten the Epsom Derby winner Workforce in the Dante Stakes, and later went on to grind it out and wear down stable companions Midas Touch and Jan Vermeer in the Irish Derby, before chasing home Harbinger at Ascot in that astonishing renewal of the "King George" in July.

How sad it is (in light of Cape Blanco's subsequent performance) that Harbinger will never be seen on a racecourse again.

Cape Blanco was ridden aggressively at Leopardstown, Heffernan using his undoubted stamina to try and run the finish out of his high class rivals. The surprise was that he showed such tremendous pace through the first half of the race and then maintained the gallop all the way to the line without the opposition ever getting close enough to strike a blow.

O'Brien's post-race comments that he has always felt Cape Blanco would be a better horse over 10-furlongs, suggest that Newmarket's Champion Stakes is a more likely option than the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but with such a classy and versatile performer the options are many, and Cape Blanco will prove hard to beat wherever he goes.

Make sure you bear that in mind when you place your next horse bet.