Lethal Force can now be truly acknowledged as one of the world's premier sprinters after he cracked the Newmarket track record in the Darley July Cup.
Ridden beautifully from the front by Adam Kirby to steal a maiden Group One win in the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot three weeks earlier, the grey's jockey used the same tactics again, and not one of his cosmopolitan opponents was capable of catching him.
A measure of Lethal Force's standing is his 1.09.11 time for the six furlongs – four-tenths of a second quicker than European Champion Sprinter Stravinsky managed in 1999.
Lethal Force (9-2) careered along the stands rail and evaded all challenges by a length-and-a-half despite his fellow Group One stars Society Rock and 3-1 favourite Shea Shea throwing everything they had at him.
Trainer Clive Cox now has some tempting options. "Even when he won at Royal Ascot they said he was lucky and it was a good ride, but I think he's confirmed today he's pretty good. There might be a few doubters silenced now," he said.
"Physically he has matured and strengthening from three to four has been the key. To break the track record is brilliant."
He added: "He's a seven-furlong Group Two winner, so the Maurice de Gheest is possible [over six-and-a-half furlongs at Deauville] and beyond that we've had lots of kind invitations from as far afield as Australia and Hong Kong. We'll just take it a step at a time."
Owner Alan Craddock said: "They'll still say Adam stole the race but he's shown he's such a good horse. He's the horse of a lifetime for us."
Society Rock, who beat Lethal Force on unfavourable terms in May's Duke of York Stakes, picked up second.
Eddie Lynam's Slade Power was third, ahead of his more established stablemate Sole Power in fifth, while South African raider Shea Shea (fourth) will revert to the minimum trip having been just a neck behind Sole Power in the King's Stand Stakes.
Kirby earlier helped Field Of Dream (14-1), drawn on the wrong side when an unlucky sixth in the Royal Hunt Cup, avenge that defeat in the 32Red Bunbury Cup, but a dream day was spoiled when he picked up bans totalling eight days for his use of the whip.
Richard Fahey's speculative entry for Good Old Boy Lukey in the 32Red.com Superlative Stakes paid off delightfully.
There was market confidence for his unbeaten juvenile at 7-2, but this Group Two event was worlds away from his previous outings at Hamilton and Newcastle.
The long-striding son of Selkirk tracked Somewhat, with Ryan Moore getting that little extra out of his mount to beat the 11-4 favourite by a head.
Fahey said: "That was just the job. To be honest, he was so well after the Newcastle race we thought we'd take a punt and take him here. He's quite a tall horse and we're not doing a lot with him at home, we're just learning about him."
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