Bedtime Story puts rivals to sleep with dominant display in the Chesham

It is a common occurrence for Aidan O'Brien to unearth classy juveniles at Royal Ascot but there was nothing ordinary about the dazzling performance of Bedtime Story in the Chesham Stakes.

The daughter of Frankel was well touted coming into the Listed race after winning her maiden earlier this month, yet nothing could prepare connections for her devastating turn of foot as she cruised home by nine and a half lengths.

The race was all but over after the two-furlong pole as Bedtime Story breezed into splendid isolation under Ryan Moore, who had little to do as the filly proved a class apart from her rivals. A subsequent quote of 3-1 for next year's 1,000 Guineas felt more than warranted as her Coolmore owners were left astounded by the win.

"I'm speechless, really," said Derrick Smith, whose purple and white silks were sported by the 11-8 favourite. "Ryan said he didn't touch her and you can see for yourselves, it's unreal. I honestly couldn't believe it. To win like that is so special.

"She's very uncomplicated and just went further and further away. She's very good and hopefully she goes on, though she's got a long way to go yet."

Bred out of top sprinter Mecca's Angel, Bedtime Story recorded the biggest winning margin of this year's fixture with a blistering pace, running 0.68 seconds faster than any of her rivals between the second and final furlong and 0.49 seconds quicker on the drive to the line.

Her win dwarfed the noteworthy success in Friday's Albany Stakes of her stablemate Fairy Godmother, who was demoted to second favourite for next year's Newmarket Classic.

"Yesterday was good but by my own eyes, she's the one," added Smith. "I've been wrong before, though!"

The comparison between the two fillies was trickier to make for the winning jockey, who was registering his sixth win of the meeting.

"It's a hard one," he said. "They haven't really been asked to do too much at home. We don't know a whole lot about them and we don't know what they've beaten yet, but they are two very exciting fillies.

"Bedtime Story travelled very easy and they've gone too slow for her really. I had room at the three, so we started going forward and the race was over very quickly. She is a level above all of them. A performance like that, you don't see normally."

Bedtime Story and Ryan Moore easily winning the Chesham Stakes

Bedtime Story pulls readily clear of the field in the Chesham StakesCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Juggling the engagements of two top-class fillies is a welcome problem for O'Brien, who expressed his own sense of disbelief after claiming a record-extending seventh win in the Chesham.

"We never let her go before, this was the first time she was asked to stretch," he said. "Ryan said he couldn't believe it – everyone just fell away and she took off. He didn't even give her a slap down the shoulder.

"Fairy Godmother looked good too but they've never worked together, we treated Bedtime Story gently. She has an unbelievable pedigree and she's homebred, so it's obviously very special.

"We felt she had done enough to come here for her second run and it's unusual on fast ground to win by that far. We thought she was probably a Group 1 filly, but thinking is one thing and seeing is another. You've all seen what I saw today. We won't be looking again."

The remainder of the field may have been left fighting for the places but runner-up Tom Marquand saw enough of the swiftly disappearing winner to be impressed.

"It was a huge run," Marquand said of the 5-1 second Pentle Bay. "We can count ourselves the winner of one race and Ryan was the winner of the other. He's run massive and bumped into an extremely good horse."

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