The June 6 Coronation Cup Stakes (G1) was billed as a titanic clash between the powerhouses of Ballydoyle and The Aga Khan, but it was the emerging talent of trainer George Scott who upset the pecking order to land a first domestic group 1 success with Bay City Roller.
Last year, this group 1 contest produced a thrilling dust-up between Jan Brueghel and Calandagan, but while the prize money was greater and Calandagan's reputation was loftier, the returning pair could not hold a flame to the new kid on the block as Bay City Roller flew home under Oisin Murphy for an authoritative 10-length win.
Francis-Henri Graffard rued the decision to run eventual fourth-place finisher Calandagan in increasingly soggy conditions, but the relentless rain was welcomed by Scott, who was swayed by the weather to send the 4-year-old to Epsom Downs Racecourse just 13 days after his second in the Gold Cup (G1) at the Curragh.
The decision proved inspired as the 17-2 shot traveled sweetly on the heels of eventual show finisher Lambourn, who took over the lead from stablemate Illinois 5 furlongs from home.
Swinging into the straight, Murphy was the only one to drift wide, chasing better ground in the middle of the track. The rest of the field stuck to the far side, but even if they had followed Murphy down the center, there was a sense it would not have mattered. This was Bay City Roller's day for owner Victorious Forever.
"He's a consummate professional, a freak of a horse," Scott said. "I'm so pleased he's proved how good he is today.
"When the weather looked like it might turn, I was keen to prepare him for this race and from that point onwards it was inevitable we were going to run. He stays so well and a mile and a half on soft ground is his bread and butter."
It may have been the first British group 1 for the Newmarket trainer, but there was a sense of inevitability that this day would come sooner rather than later, with Scott enjoying a sensational run since landing his first international top-level victory in October.
Scott said: "We're on that trajectory to be running in these kinds of races now, we have that caliber of owner and stock, but you never quite think it's going to happen.
"I sent Oisin a video of Bay City Roller winning in Munich last year on the way to the races today and said, 'This is what happened when we last met Convergent.' He's a very good horse on this ground and I just wanted him to get that opportunity. This is an out-of-body experience."
Murphy may have been inspired by Bay City Roller's win in Germany, but the tactics were all his own, with the jockey choosing to stick to his guns down the middle of the course in defiance of the rest of the field.
Jan Brueghel settled for second in the damp conditions.
"I wanted to find a nice strip in the middle," he said. "There were some tire tracks on the grass, so there had been plenty of traffic from cars, not horses, and I thought if I could get on to that it wouldn't be bad at all. I didn't really mind if anyone followed me, because this horse goes as fast if he's chased or not."
Scott said he would weigh short-term options for Bay City Roller, but the long-term target is the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) in the fall.
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