Kieren Fallon may have to wait until October's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris before getting back on board Dylan Thomas but judged by the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt's rout of his King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes opposition on Saturday it will be a date to look forward to.
Fallon's drugs ban from earlier in the season, and his continued ban from riding in Britain, means he has yet to ride his Irish Derby winner in 2007 but another date in France could change that.
The controversial former champion jockey was in Deauville yesterday where he finished third on Simply Perfect in the Group One Prix D'Astarte behind Darjina.
However, the way Dylan Thomas secured the fourth Group One victory of his career when beating Youmzain by four lengths on Saturday was enough to have the Irish star cut to 5 to 1 second favourite for the Arc.
"The pace was the key to him," Fallon said yesterday. "There wasn't much pace the last day Dylan Thomas ran and he was always doing a little bit too much. When he got there he emptied a bit. But he won like a very good horse this weekend."
Hurricane Run's Arc defence last year robbed Dylan Thomas of the chance to run in France's greatest race but O'Brien is targeting the race with a vengeance now.
"Hopefully we can run him in it this year," said the champion trainer who added: "But all the top mile and a quarter and mile and a half races are open to him."
The shorter option would mean a pre-Arc date for Fallon in possibly a repeat bid at the Irish Champion Stakes, the race where Dylan Thomas edged out Ouija Board in an epic race last year.
Johnny Murtagh, who successfully stepped in for the ride on Saturday, is in no doubt of the four-year-old's quality either and dismissed the view that it was a substandard renewal of the King George.
"Everyone's knocking it but those that didn't show up we'll be meeting later in the season and I think he will show how good he is.
"They were all Group One winners behind him except for Maraahel so you can't knock it too much," Murtagh said.
Certainly if the race overall on Saturday doesn't compare with the strength in depth of some previous years, there is no doubt Dylan Thomas was a worthy winner and a more than respectable name on the King George roll of honour.
He has already achieved enough in his career to make him a better horse than the likes of Kings Theatre (1994) and Belmez (1990) and O'Brien's and Fallon's determination to get him to Longchamp in just over two months time indicates there may even be better to come.
O'Brien was edged out of a Group Two success at York on Saturday when the Derby runner-up, Eagle Mountain, also had to settle for second place behind the Godolphin second string Stage Gift.
