Exciting blueblood Battleground as short as 10-1 for Guineas after Chesham glory

Aidan O'Brien may have found his next Classic star in Battleground, who opened his account with a decisive success in the Chesham Stakes that took the Ballydoyle handler to a record five wins in the Listed contest.

The mount of Ryan Moore, sent off the 11-4 favourite, showed significant improvement from last week's Naas debut to hold off game runner-up March Law, who outran his odds of 18-1 for Mark Johnston and Silvestre de Sousa.

The winner is bred in the purple, being a son of War Front and remarkable Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Found, and Paddy Power were impressed enough to make him 10-1 for next year's 2,000 Guineas. Sky Bet go 14-1 and William Hill quote him at 20-1.

Battleground: as short as 10-1 for the 2,000 Guineas after his Royal Ascot successCredit: Edward Whitaker

"He's an unbelievable specimen really," said O'Brien after adding to his Chesham victories with Bach (1999), Maybe (2011), Churchill (2016) and September (2017).

"He finished a good fifth at Naas and Wayne Lordan loved him. He had a good clear run, there was no hard luck story but he learned a lot from it."

Step up in trip beckons for Battleground

O'Brien added: "We were worried about the ground. He's by War Front but Found handled soft ground when she won the Breeders' Cup Turf."

The manner of Battleground's success was uncomplicated without being outrageously impressive.

He always appeared to be getting the upper hand once sent on inside the final two furlongs, gradually unwinding to score by two and a half lengths.

Seattle Rock ran a massive race at 80-1 to claim third despite hanging to the right late on, while the well-backed First Prophet failed to fire and finished last of the eight runners.

Chesham Stakes full result and replay

Weighing up the winner's future targets, O'Brien suggested stepping up another furlong in distance could be right up Battleground's street.

"He's an exciting horse, he could be anything," he said.

"He could be one for the July meeting or the National Stakes. I would imagine he'd stay well and probably a mile will be his trip. Found got a mile and a half, but War Front is a big influence for speed.

"We're hoping he could progress into a very good miler. Found was an unbelievable, magic mare. She was one of the very special ones and everyone remembers her."

The success brought Moore level with Frankie Dettori on a record four wins in the race, following his previous successes for Ballydoyle on Maybe, Churchill and September.

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