Unquestionable was far too good for his rivals in the Prevagen Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita on Friday night.
The 13/8 favourite had a dream run through the contest under Ryan Moore who made a beeline for the rail in the early exchanges and that enabled the son of Wootton Bassett to save ground throughout.
Once pulled outside to make his challenge in the straight he motored home for an easy success, making up for the scratching of stablemate River Tiber earlier on by the Santa Anita stewards.
River Tiber was favourite for the contest and Moore was due to ride him, but the rider switched to Unquestionable after the scratching with Frankie Dettori losing out.
It was a rollercoaster day for trainer Aidan O'Brien who said afterwards: "That's the way it is, I'm delighted for the lads. I felt so sorry for the lads [when River Tiber was withdrawn]. It's very tough to win here, it's unbelievable. When a day starts badly it usually spirals out of control. It was a great ride from Ryan."
Moore was impressed with the winner and he said: "I had a bit of speed underneath me. I ended up on the fence. We had the two coming here and we thought a lot of them both. He's done that real nicely today. I'm sorry for Frankie missing the ride."
It was a sixth win in the contest for O'Brien who won it last year with Victoria Road and he had the one-two for good measure, with 16/1 shot Mountain Bear finishing second.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org
