Aidan O’Brien, the trainer who makes the extraordinary appear routine, had the first four home in the Dewhurst Stakes here and is now within touching distance of one of the sport’s great records. It is 14 years since the US trainer Bobby Frankel won 25 top-class races in a single year and O’Brien could match that total on Sunday night, when his Idaho is expected to start favourite for the Canadian International at Woodbine.

This Dewhurst, won by U S Navy Flag, comes in the autumn of an astonishing year for O’Brien and, while it would be fair context to note that he gets much more of the best material to work with than any of his rivals, this was a race in which another trainer fielded an odds-on favourite. Expert Eye, from the nearby yard of Sir Michael Stoute, started at odds of 4-7 but failed to settle, tired into last place and was then found to be lame.

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O’Brien has had disasters like that on occasion, not every young racehorse being as tractable as one might wish. But his genius shows in his ability to get so many horses to racecourses around the world in a condition to do themselves justice; in the case of U S Navy Flag, this was a two-year-old having his 10th race of the year.

“I think he was overlooked a bit, wasn’t he?” O’Brien said of the colt, returned at odds of 5-1 despite having won the Middle Park at this same track last month. “He’s a tough, hardy horse. A very exciting horse really.”

Another aspect of O’Brien’s genius is that he does not simply settle for having the best horses, getting them fit and sending them to the right races. No stable applies itself more rigorously or with better effect to the question of tactics and, as on so many previous occasions, his runners were able to impose their will on the way this race unfolded.

From stall one, Ryan Moore on U S Navy Flag was furthest from the stands’ rail, where a faster strip of ground has been a consistent help to runners this week. But he got out quickly, edged across and had the lead and the rail by halfway.

While the winner plugged on remorselessly and Expert Eye fizzled out, O’Brien’s other horses stayed on dourly to fill the places. They were led by Mendelssohn, a 50-1 shot who cost $3m at auction a year ago and is now £100,000 closer to repaying that debt.

U S Navy Flag becomes the first horse for 35 years, since Diesis, to land the Middle Park-Dewhurst double. He heads the betting for next year’s 2,000 Guineas at 10-1 but there must be every chance that this speedy sort will instead take the sprinter’s route towards Ascot’s Commonwealth Cup.

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As is his invariable habit, O’Brien deflected all praise towards his team: “Hundreds of people … people who are close to the horses on the day and people who would have dealt with them early …” Asked about breaking the Frankel record, he said: “It would be massive for everyone but obviously we don’t think about it on a long-term thing. We take each race as it comes. One day at a time, one race at a time.” One more day may be all it takes.

A monster punt appears to have been landed in the Cesarewitch, won handsomely by Withhold in the colours of Tony Bloom, a noted gambler and owner of Brighton & Hove Albion. Sent off at 5-1 from an overnight 12-1, the horse broke the course record time that had stood for 70 years.

The day began with unexpected drama from one of the pony races that preceded the main action. One runner clipped heels and fell, bringing down another, so that a shocked crowd found itself watching two 14-year-old boys bouncing along the turf. Happily, serious injury seems to have been avoided; one of the jockeys was unhurt while the other was said to be “in good spirits and with his family” on his way to hospital for further assessment.

Meanwhile, the world’s richest turf race, the Everest in Australia, fell to Redzel under Kerrin McEvoy. This was the first running of the sprint race, worth £3.5m to the winner, and it took place without a European-trained runner.

Chris Cook’s Sunday tips

Chepstow

1.40 Speedo Boy 2.15 Mr Mix 2.50 Amour De Nuit (nap) 3.25 Theatrical Star 4.00 Utility 4.35 Romain De Senam 5.10 Goforthecraic 5.40 Drovers Lane

Goodwood

2.00 Harry Hunt 2.35 Maypole 3.10 Zoraya 3.45 Loxley 4.20 Michael’s Mount (NB) 4.55 Boy In The Bar 5.25 Casement