Circus Maximus comes of age in St James's Palace cracker

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

Supplemented after finishing sixth in the Derby, 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 Group level but he relished the drop back to a mile to come out on top in the colours of 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."

Head down: Circus Maximus is all out to land the St James's Palace StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

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

Irish 2,000 Guineas 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 off one John Gosden-trained runner, Circus Maximus had another on the outside with King Of Comedy coming from the back of the field to chase down the winner. His challenge ultimately came too late as he failed by a neck with 2-1 favourite 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."

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