A crack at the Triple Crown awaits Darkness Falls when he returns to action next season.
Aidan O'Brien's star two-year-old colt defeated Desert Castle in the Dewhurst Stakes at the weekend and he looks all set to return to Newmarket next May for the 2000 Guineas where he will start off on the Triple Crown trail.
Success in the Dewhurst saw him shorten into 3/1 for the first Classic of the season, usurping runner-up Desert Castle at the head of the market.
Darkness Falls' sire, Camelot, won the 2000 Guineas and the Derby in 2012 before being narrowly denied Triple Crown glory when beaten by Encke in the St Leger. He too was handled by O'Brien and owned in part by John Magnier, whose father-in-law Vincent O'Brien trained Nijinsky to win the Triple Crown in 1970.
Nijinsky was the 15th and most recent winner of all three races.
Aside from Camelot, only Sea The Stars and Nashwan have landed two of the three Triple Crown legs in the 46 years since -- both winning the 2000 Guineas and the Derby -- however, neither lined up in the St Leger at Doncaster.
After watching Darkness Falls land the Dewhurst, O'Brien told reporters that the Triple Crown was "the dream" for his colt next season, adding: “His dad went very close and was an incredible horse. This horse, he's very like him but he's quicker. Obviously his dad won the [former] Racing Post Trophy and is an absolutely top-class stallion. This is a very exciting horse.
“The Triple Crown is only out of fashion because you can’t get a horse to do it. It’s a very difficult thing to do. We knew how special Camelot was and he nearly did it. Camelot is a very good stallion and puts class into horses.”
Victory over seven furlongs was a huge feather in the cap of Darkness Falls, proving he has the speed to compete at the top level over shorter trips just a few weeks on from winning the Group 1 Golden Fleece over nine furlongs at Leopardstown.
English Triple Crown latest odds
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