It is a common occurrence for Aidan O'Brien to unearth classy juveniles at Royal Ascot, but there was nothing ordinary about the dazzling performance of Bedtime Story in the June 22 Chesham Stakes.
The 2-year-old daughter of Frankel was well touted coming into the listed race after winning her maiden earlier this month, yet nothing could prepare connections for her devastating turn of foot as she cruised home by 9 1/2 lengths.
The race was all but over after the two-furlong pole as Bedtime Story breezed into splendid isolation under Ryan Moore, who had little to do as the filly proved a class apart from her rivals. A subsequent quote of 3-1 for next year's One Thousand Guineas (G1) felt more than warranted as her Coolmore owners were left astounded by the win.
"I'm speechless, really," said Derrick Smith, whose purple and white silks were sported by the 11-8 favorite. "Ryan said he didn't touch her and you can see for yourselves, it's unreal. I honestly couldn't believe it. To win like that is so special.
"She's very uncomplicated and just went further and further away. She's very good and hopefully she goes on, though she's got a long way to go yet."
Bred out of top sprinter Mecca's Angel, Bedtime Story recorded the biggest winning margin of this year's fixture with a blistering pace, running 0.68 of a second faster than any of her rivals between the second and final furlong and 0.49 of a second quicker on the drive to the line.
Her win dwarfed the victory in Friday's Albany Stakes (G3) of her stablemate Fairy Godmother, who was demoted to second favorite for next year's Newmarket Classic.
"Yesterday was good but by my own eyes, she's the one," added Smith. "I've been wrong before, though!"
The comparison between the two fillies was trickier to make for the winning jockey, who was registering his sixth win of the meeting.
"It's a hard one," he said. "They haven't really been asked to do too much at home. We don't know a whole lot about them and we don't know what they've beaten yet, but they are two very exciting fillies.
"Bedtime Story traveled very easy and they've gone too slow for her really. I had room at the three, so we started going forward and the race was over very quickly. She is a level above all of them. A performance like that, you don't see normally."
Juggling the engagements of two top-class fillies is a welcome problem for O'Brien, who expressed his own sense of disbelief after claiming a record-extending seventh win in the Chesham.
"We never let her go before, this was the first time she was asked to stretch," he said. "Ryan said he couldn't believe it. Everyone just fell away and she took off. He didn't even give her a slap down the shoulder.
"Fairy Godmother looked good, too, but they've never worked together, we treated Bedtime Story gently. She has an unbelievable pedigree and she's homebred, so it's obviously very special ... We thought she was probably a group 1 filly, but thinking is one thing and seeing is another."
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