A two-year-old championship decider between the star Irish colts Teofilo and Holy Roman Emperor looks set to go ahead in tomorrow's Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, with confidence appearing to grow behind the Aidan O'Brien-trained hope.

Despite initial uncertainty over suitable ground conditions, Holy Roman Emperor was one of three O'Brien-trained horses left among the field of 15 at yesterday's final declaration stage.

Michael Kinane, who rode O'Brien's sole previous Dewhurst winner, Rock Of Gibraltar in 2001, will be on board Holy Roman Emperor for the first time.

And despite Teofilo having a length-and-a-quarter advantage over his rival from last month's National Stakes at the Curragh, it was Holy Roman Emperor who was the market mover yesterday.

Cashmans cut the Phoenix Stakes and Prix Jean Luc Lagadere-winner to evens in their match-betting market, with Teofilo moving to 4 to 5.

The going at Newmarket was good to soft yesterday, but the authorities are hopeful of good ground by tomorrow.

Clerk of the course Michael Prosser said: "It's amazing we missed all the overnight rain on Wednesday. From all the weather reports we were guaranteed a downpour, but all we got was 0.6mm of drizzle.

"We will use a fresh strip of ground on the stands side on Saturday which will be 20 metres wide. It hasn't been raced on since September 19th and has been saved for Champions day."

Other Irish interest in the Dewhurst will centre on Kevin Prendergast's Curragh winner Haatef and David Wachman's He's A Decoy, who ran fourth to Holy Roman Emperor at Longchamp 12 days ago.

But the main focus is likely to be on Teofilo and Holy Roman Emperor, who are rated the joint best two-year-olds in Europe with handicap marks of 119.

The Ballydoyle colt opened up the argument again about which is best with an impressive victory at Longchamp, and one prominent racing figure believes a large field at Newmarket could suit Holy Roman Emperor ideally.

Ireland's flat handicapper, Gary O'Gorman, is eagerly looking forward to another clash of the two prime classic hopes and admits to being unsure which way it may pan out.

"I was stunned when Teofilo beat Holy Roman Emperor, because I felt Holy Roman Emperor was right out of the top drawer after his wins in the Railway Stakes and the Phoenix Stakes.

"We put Teofilo on 119 after that and we dropped the other horse to 118. But Holy Roman Emperor ran to 119 in France last time so it will be very interesting if both run and the ground isn't too bad," said O'Gorman, who has a theory about both occasions Holy Roman Emperor has been beaten this year.

"It's just a hunch, but both times he was caught in the middle of the course without cover. Whereas he was really impressive running through a ruck of horses in both the Phoenix Stakes and the Railway. It could be just a coincidence though," he said.

Aidan O'Brien will also be represented by the unbeaten Art Museum in the Group Two VC Bet Challenge Stakes, while Impetious (Eamon Tyrell) and Queen Of France (David Wachman) will join the Boussac-winner Finsceal Beo in the Group Two Rockfel.

There is no Irish runner among the eight for the Champion Stakes, where Sir Percy will face seven rivals as he makes his long-awaited reappearance. Marcus Tregoning's Derby hero has been off the track since his Epsom triumph, but he returns to the fray tomorrow when he will also meet older rivals for the first time.

George Washington continues to be quoted as low as 7 to 1 in ante-post betting for the Breeders' Cup Classic on dirt on November 5th, but the O'Brien team for the championships at Churchill Downs will be without both the Oaks heroine Alexandrova and the Irish Derby winner Dylan Thomas.

Both stars have been declared finished for this season, but are likely to continue their careers in 2007 as four-year-olds.

Alexandrova had been among the favourites for the Breeders' Cup fillies and mares race, but O'Brien said: "She might have been feeling the effects of a long season in the Prix de l'Opera, so we're going to leave her alone and hopefully look forward to next year. Dylan Thomas didn't run his race in America last weekend and may be feeling the effects of a long season, so we've also decided to leave him at home."