Circus Maximus edged out Terebellum to take the Gr1 Queen Anne Stakes (1 mile) in a driving finish at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.
The runner-up looked the winner when getting a neck in front inside the final furlong but Circus Maximus rallied strongly under Ryan Moore and had his nose back in front in on the line to win by a short-head.
The pair finished three lengths clear of third home Marie’s Diamond.
For Moore it is his 59th Royal winner but his first in the Queen Anne Stakes.
Speaking to Racing TV from Ireland, trainer Aidan O’Brien said Circus Maximus was like a fighter.
“I’m delighted. That’s him exactly – he’s very tough. He quickened and then toughed it out, it’s unbelievable really. Ryan gave him a brilliant ride,” O’Brien said.
“It’s very exciting. Ascot is usually a very busy week for us, so it’s brilliant today to see all the preliminaries and everything.”
“There’s a lot of stuff we are getting to see that we wouldn’t if we were at the races. We’ve got a great team of people doing everything when we’re not there. We couldn’t be happier.”
“He’s a very good horse and has a great pedigree. He has pace, he’s tough and he’s brave. He’s a trademark Galileo with loads of speed.”
It is the third win at the highest level for Circus Maximus, winner of the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal meeting last year.
“I think he is an underestimated horse. He’s a very solid horse and his best form is at a mile which makes him more valuable. He’s able to jump and travel early and he loves getting eyeballed. He toughs it out really well,” O’Brien said.
“A mile is his trip. He’s lazy which is why he wears blinkers. It’s only when the tempo is really strong like that he really focuses. The problem with mile-and-a-quarter and mile-and-a-half races is the tempo is not strong enough and you can’t get him to focus.
“He’s like a fighter. If you don’t get his blood up he doesn’t really bother. A mile is what he’s comfortable at. I’d imagine he’d stay at that trip. The pace of the mile races gets his blood up.
“I’d say the Sussex Stakes is the race for him and he’s comfortable racing round a bend as well.”
The race had a disappointing postscript for Ryan Moore who was suspended for two days for using his whip above the permitted level from approaching the final furlong.