Doubts surround the King

King Of Kings goes into the winter with the title of enigma still hanging around his handsome head. He will also have quotes as low as 6 to 1 for the English 2,000 Guineas to accompany that label, a fact that points out as well as anything how much little has changed with King Of Kings despite his success in yesterday's Aga Khan Studs National Stakes at the Curragh.

The major bookmakers left their Guineas prices unchanged for the colt which reflects how ineffective yesterday's race was in uncovering the real King Of Kings, except perhaps in one crucial area.

Typically, he got slightly warm and fractious beforehand and pulled quite hard in the early stages. He also showed an electrifying turn of foot for about 100 yards that got him out of trouble and into the lead and also typically, didn't stretch away from his rivals once he got there.

Significantly though, there appeared to be nothing wrong with his courage. To graduate to Group One company there couldn't afford to be as King Of Kings was trapped behind a wall of horses two furlongs out. Christy Roche, no doubt afraid of allowing King Of Kings too much daylight too early, had pulled the colt back behind the pack but for a moment he looked to have nowhere to go.

When a gap did appear, King Of Kings had to forge through a forest of flailing whips and indeed caught one across his nose from John Murtagh's stick as Murtagh drove Natalis for all he was worth. It didn't halt the 4 to 9 favourite's burst of speed but again when he hit the front, King Of Kings didn't stretch clear in the style that might be expected from such a vaunted animal and only beat stable companion Celtic Cavalier by three-parts of a length with the English pair, Mountain Song and Mowbray, just behind.

No that that surprised Roche or trainer Aidan O'Brien. "I never had an anxious moment. When he got to the front he was saying: `What do I have to do now.' That will be the problem next year, putting his head in front on the line. It certainly won't be ability," a smiling Roche declared.

Despite Second Empire's recent impressive win in France, O'Brien still insists that King Of Kings is far and away his best two-year-old.

"I'm delighted. He just does what he has to and the longer he does that, the longer he'll last. It's the same at home. It doesn't matter if he's against three, four or five-year-olds, he'll do the same. There's no point working horses against him because everything is so easy for him," O'Brien said before significantly adding: "We've always thought he is our best two-year-old and I still think that."

Nevertheless, the formbook fact is that yesterday's contest doesn't appear to amount to a whole lot. Less than three and a half lengths covered the first seven horses home and Mountian Song and Mowbray are hardly in the top bracket of English two-year-olds, although the former's trainer Sir Mark Prescott said: "The winner's good and I think he flattered the rest of us."

O'Brien said afterwards that King Of Kings was "very unlikely" to run again this year and that Second Empire would instead represent Ballydoyle in either the Dewhurst or the Grand Criterium, with Saratoga Springs going for the Racing Post Trophy. As regards King Of Kings, it's very much a case of wait and see.

Kevin Prendergast and Stephen Craine continued their purple patch with a double through Quws in the Solonaway Race and the newcomer Wish Me Luck in the opening maiden. After Quws outsprinted Mr Lightfoot by two-and-a-half lengths, Prendergast revealed that no decision has been reached about who will ride Oscar Schindler in the Arc where the Leger winner could be joined by John Oxx's Ebadilya who is recovering from a muscle problem.

Tinker Amelia scored her third win up the Curragh, and the fourth of her career, when staying on much too strongly for Roblexie and Magic Annemarie in the Clongowes Union Handicap and Private Chapel did well to carry topweight to success in the September Handicap.