Imperious Japan beats Bangkok to give Aidan O'Brien a 70th royal winner

Allow yourself to imagine what might have been if Japan had not suffered a setback in the spring. Scary, isn't it?

Aidan O'Brien has never made any secret of the fact that the strapping son of Galileo missed an important week of work while preparing for the Derby which put him firmly on the back foot.

Not much was expected in the Dante and he duly delivered the performance anticipated. Better was expected in the Derby and he exceeded expectations to take third. Big things were expected here and boy did he live up to his pre-race billing. Japan, it seems, has the world at his feet.

Ryan Moore rode the son of Galileo as though he was not just the best horse in the race, but the best horse in the race by a considerable margin. How right he was. This was arguably the performance of the week and Paddy Power immediately slashed him into 7-4 favourite for the St Leger.

Japan: all class at AscotCredit: Mark Cranham

Moore admitted as much afterwards, saying: "This is a high-class colt. He's very good and he put them to bed very easily there.

"He was the best horse, it was just keeping it simple really. He could be more than a Leger horse, he's a good horse. He will be a very effective over a mile and a half."

Japan might well be very effective over a mile and a half and the temptation must be there for O'Brien to have a crack at the Arc later in the year. He is priced between 12-1 and 16-1 for Europe's richest race.

It was fitting that such a ferocious colt should provide O'Brien with his 70th royal winner and he was keen to stress how good this year's Derby was afterwards.

"The Derby was a very good race, I don't think anyone realised what a good race it was – we can see what happened to Circus Maximus earlier in the week. They were all there together – it was a very high-class race," said O'Brien, who was celebrating his fifth winner of the week.

The trainer continued: "This is a very smart horse and he is coming forward lovely all the time, we couldn't be happier. He had a lovely run in the Dante, and he was just ready to go again, and came forward for the Derby.

"Wayne was delighted with him in the Derby, Wayne rides him in all his work. Everything has been right with him all the time and progressing all the time."

Japan went the scenic route, while Bangkok cut every corner but it made no difference as he could not live with the favourite. Andrew Balding took the defeat on the chin and turned his attention to America.

Bangkok: an American turf campaign looks possibleCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

"There were no excuses and he's had a charmed run through. He looked like a classy horse today and was just beaten by a good one. We'll look at all our options and he might be a horse we look at for the American turf races – they've a new series of races there that might suit," Balding said.

Eagles By Day, a 25-1 outsider, outran those odds by finishing third and Michael Bell was understandably pleased with the display.

Bell said: "He ran a very good race. Danny [Tudhope] felt he was a completely different horse to the one who ran at Lingfield. He's a lovely stayer in the making and the Bahrain Trophy is a possibility."

This was all about Japan and the remainder of the season could be about Japan too. The potential is frightening.

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