Aidan O'Brien threw punters a Sagitta 2,000 Guineas poser as Minardi, another from his star-studded two-year-old pack, secured victory in the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket yesterday.
The colt justified heavy support as he defeated nine rivals in the £130,000 Group One contest. In the process he displaced his stablemate, Hemingway, at the head of the betting for the 2,000 Guineas.
Minardi, whose owner Michael Tabor is represented by the hot-favourite Montjeu in Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, is as short as 6 to 1 favourite (Ladbrokes and William Hill) for the Newmarket Classic.
The Tote are more generous, but still have Minardi as their clear market leader at 8 to 1 while Coral are longest at 10 to 1.
Impressive York winner Hemingway is 8 to 1 second best with William Hill but now on offer at 10 to 1 with Ladbrokes and the Tote.
As well as the big-two, O'Brien also has strong 2,000 Guineas possibles in Mozart, a winner at Newmarket on Tuesday, and King Charlemagne, who runs at Newmarket today.
But the trainer is unable to offer clues on which is the best, saying: "They don't work together and it's just a case of keeping them right for next year.
"We'll get a much clearer idea in the spring when they probably will be tried against each other."
Minardi was clearly reckoned to be the business yesterday, shortening to 5 to 6 at the off, having been available at 13 to 8 in the offices.
Supporters might have had some anxious moments as Michael Kinane was forced to go for his whip past the halfway stage, but Minardi responded well, sweeping to the front with a furlong to travel.
The slow-starting Endless Summer came out of the pack to finish one and a half lengths back in second, with Red Carpet three-parts of a length back in third.
"Mick said he would have no worries at all about Minardi staying the one mile," said O'Brien.
"Minardi has a lovely natural attitude and Mick said he ran to the line like a lion today. First time out he was beaten because they walked for the first two furlongs and then sprinted.
"Minardi is put together in all the right places and both he and Hemingway get you pumped up when they work on the gallops.
"They are both horses that have a lot of speed and you wouldn't mind seeing them making the running."
More clues as to the O'Brien pecking order might be gleaned from the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket next month.
The trainer has a staggering 18 entries in the Group One contest run over seven furlongs.
"I'm not sure how many I'll run but I would imagine there would be more than one in that race," he said.
Tabor, who also owns Hemingway and Mozart, is far from convinced that Minardi deserves to be such a short price.
"He certainly looks the part but I feel 8 to 1 is short as we've got two or three others at home that you wouldn't know about," he said.
John Gosden, commenting on Endless Summer, said: "He was bit sluggish at the start and suffered some trouble in running but he wouldn't have beaten the winner."
Kinane teed up a double when guiding home Muja Farewell in the Baileys Horse Feeds Nursery.
Today's meeting at Hexham was abandoned after an inspection found the course to be waterlogged.
