Decisive but not definitive. They can both walk away and dream the dream over the winter, but for the winning team it's the ultimate one.
Darkness Falls fends off Desert Castle to land the Darley Dewhurst Stakes.
He’s dropped back from nine furlongs to seven to win a second successive Group One. He’s passed the speed test, shown the balance required to quicken into the Dip then the stamina to devour the rising ground afterwards. His path from here is clear.
A mile back at the very same venue in May, a mile-and-a-half at Epsom a month later and then, as the winds and showers of autumn arrive, stretch out over two extra furlongs in the St Leger at Doncaster. Win the lot and racing immortality awaits.
His sire Camelot came agonisingly close to doing just that, Encke emerging as the ultimate party-pooper on an afternoon when Town Moor fell silent just at the moment it was supposed to be partying.
So it's Nijinsky in 1970 who's the 15th and most recent colt to win the Triple Crown. His statue stands at the entrance gates to Ballydoyle and John Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor and partners would love nothing more than erecting another one, on the opposite side of the sacred grounds, to commemorate a colt following in those illustrious hoofprints.
It's windy at Newmarket, Aidan has reached for the trusty black flat cap that is rolled out for the autumn. It’s secure. No need for a reassuring hand to keep it in place as he talks to the media in the winners’ enclosure.
Are you thinking the Triple Crown? he’s asked – is that the Holy Grail?
“How many years have we been trying to win it?”
Is this the one?
“We thought he was but you’re never sure and he could have got beat today and still been the one. He didn’t lie down.”
Are you confident he’ll get a mile-and-a-half at three?
“You can never be sure, but he got a very tough nine last time and that means he’s definitely going to get a mile-and-a-quarter as a two-year-old. If he’s getting a mile-and-a-half at two, with that kind of class, you’d imagine there’s a very good chance he’s going to get a mile-and-a-half around Epsom."
We talk about the Triple Crown being out of fashion. You came close to doing it with Cam…
“It’s out of fashion because you can’t find a horse to do it. How can you do it? It’s very difficult. It’s only when you get one that you think might do you realise how difficult it is. We knew how special Camelot was. He nearly did it – but didn’t.”
So why is still so coveted?
“Because it’s the total test of the thoroughbred. You’re running a mile up here, at the time of the year it’s like a fast sprint. Then you’re going to Epsom to test if they have they the stamina and quality to get a mile-and-a-half from being a miler. Then you’re asking them to stay in the Leger. You’re testing every bone in their body to do it. It is a very difficult thing to do. It’s the ultimate test. It’s why so few horses pass it.
“If they can pass that, they’re special, it's more than unusual for them to pass it.”
