Nelson scuppers rivals to give O'Brien more Group One glory

(PA)

For Aidan O'Brien, the glorious 12th came over a month early. He and his all-conquering team from Co Tipperary have been ubiquitous at the top level this year and yesterday's whisker-wide triumph by Mount Nelson in the Eclipse Stakes took their Group One total more than halfway to the record tally of 23, posted in 2001. It would be a bold soul to say No 13 will not come this afternoon, when King Of Rome contests the German Derby at Hamburg.

In the aftermath O'Brien, typically, was at pains to emphasise the input from everyone at Ballydoyle, from the man in the public spotlight, Johnny Murtagh, to the people who sweep up after the horses. Mount Nelson represents an excellent example of the teamwork, time and patience invested.

The four-year-old, a top-class juvenile, had to miss most of his bright three-year-old career when he ripped a shoe off his near-fore foot early last year and took most of the hoof with it. Though damage is still visible on the external surface, a valuable athlete was saved.

Pat Lillis, formerly in charge of the homework of talents as disparate as Istabraq and Dylan Thomas, rides him daily and Ed O'Dwyer does the presentation from the ground. And in Murtagh, riding at the top of his confidence, O'Brien has the perfect practitioner to deliver that potential on the track.

The rider produced Mount Nelson with inch-perfect timing to catch and beat Phoenix Tower, sent for home by Ted Durcan a furlong out, a short-head, with Pipedreamer thrusting late to claim third place from Campanologist a length behind.

"It was a masterful ride," said O'Brien. "I can't tell you the difference having Johnny with us has made. It is a massive advantage."

Murtagh, in his turn, sent praise winging across the net to O'Brien. Mount Nelson was the operation's sole representative, pinpointed as up to the job without the aid of a pacemaker and settled at the back of the field as Phoenix Tower's Henry Cecil stablemate Multidimensional blazed a brisk trail.

"We put pacemakers in when they'll benefit us," said Murtagh. "I knew today that if they went slow I'd outsprint them and if they went fast I'd be able to do what I did, wind it up from the back. Aidan told me that if I led inside the final furlong that would be enough to win it, and he knows the horses so well that if he says something you know it's probably right.

"I always thought I'd get there and although the second didn't give up when I tackled him, I was on top in the last 100 yards. Like Aidan, I can't emphasise how much teamwork is involved. But he is the lead-off. The example he sets means everyone is more than willing to go the extra length to get the job done."

It was Murtagh's first Eclipse Stakes. "I thought I'd win it three years ago on Motivator," said the 38-year-old Irishman, "but one of Aidan's [Oratorio] beat me. I was on the right side today."

Mount Nelson, a son of Rock Of Gibraltar, raced just once last year, unplaced in the Champion Stakes late in the season, and though this was his first success since he took the Criterium International in France at two, he has progressed with every run this term, most recently a close fifth to another O'Brien inmate, the Haradasun, over a mile at Royal Ascot.

"We never mind them getting beat," said O'Brien, "if we learn something about them. We knew the step up to 10 furlongs would be just right for him. We always thought he was the real deal – he was a very good two-year-old – but he is an amazing horse to come back from the injury he had."

The 111th edition of the Coral-sponsored midsummer 10-furlong showpiece looked an ordinary renewal on paper, but at least the winner was the one in the field who already had a Group One win on his CV and the two who followed him were progressive types with genuine top-level pretensions.

But if it was the "right" result for the formbook and the status of the race, it was the wrong one for the heart.

Cecil, enjoying a revival in his long and distinguished career, last won the Eclipse Stakes in 1978, with Gunner B. Since then he has some agonising near-misses and gallantly though he tried Phoenix Tower was unable to end 30 years of hurt. "I thought he'd won," said Cecil, sadly.