Aidan O'Brien described the going at the Curragh yesterday as "point-to-point ground" and it certainly proved too much for the 1 to 2 favourite Henrythenavigator who lost his unbeaten record to the complete outsider Saoirse Abu in the Group One feature.
Jim Bolger's 25 to 1 shot was a length too good in the Independent Waterford Wedgwood Phoenix Stakes for Henrythenavigator who in the process also lost his place at the head of the betting for next year's 2,000 Guineas.
However, conditions yesterday appeared to have more in common with a three-mile winter slog than the classic mile at Newmarket and O'Brien was inclined to forgive his Royal Ascot-winning colt who failed to continue the trainer's remarkable winning streak in Europe's first juvenile Group One of the season.
"It's not an ideal way to start the Group One campaign but that's point-to-point ground out there," he said.
"Kieren (Fallon) said he was hating the ground and he was struggling the whole way."
However, that didn't stop Henrythenavigator hitting the front outside the furlong pole and he simply didn't have enough to resist the renewed challenge of Saoirse Abu who had disputed with the winner's stable companion, Warsaw, from the start.
"Henrythenavigator took 15 attempts to get around the Cape of Good Hope so I was always hopeful," said Bolger who could aim his latest Group One-winning filly at the Moyglare Stud Stakes next.
The $260,000 purchase Saoirse Abu is, like her double classic winning stable companion Finsceal Beo, a daughter of Mr Greeley but the trainer had no worries about yesterday's going for a filly who was wearing first time blinkers.
"She's a soft ground Mr Greeley," he said. "I don't think the blinkers made that much difference. They maybe helped her concentrate and she had a good draw."
The Moyglare is also an option for Dermot Weld's Campfire Glow who added to her Galway Festival victory with a neck defeat of the odds-on favourite Listen in the Group Two Ballygallon Stud Debutante Stakes.
"She's a magnificent filly and I see her as a contender for the 1,000 Guineas next year," said Weld. "She is very adaptable in terms of ground and she will have one more run this year. She's in the Goffs Million and the Moyglare so we will see where she ends up. Galway form is working out again!"
Campfire Glow was introduced as a 33 to 1 shot in some betting for next May's Guineas but despite her defeat Listen was cut in other lists to 10 to 1 and it wasn't hard to see why after a less than straightforward passage from the rear of the field.
Kieren Fallon had enjoyed a happier Group Two experience in the earlier UAE Royal Whip Stakes as the Derby runner-up Eagle Mountain finally got off the mark for 2007 with a two-and-a-half-length defeat of Alexander Tango.
"He's very like his Dad (Rock Of Gibraltar) in that he keeps coming out of his races so well," said Aidan O'Brien. "The Irish Champion is there for him but we have to decide if we'll give him a little rest and then go for something at the back end."
Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy enjoyed just his second Curragh success when the Peter Chapple-Hyam-trained Al Qasi overhauled the favourite Evening Time in the Group Three Phoenix Sprint.
Belclare sprang another big- priced surprise in the opening maiden as the 20 to 1 newcomer scored for trainer Tracey Collins.
"I didn't think she'd handle the ground but she actually got through it well," she said.
