Ten Sovereigns landed a Darley July Cup gamble when running away from his Newmarket rivals in style under Ryan Moore on Saturday.
Available at 10/1 on Friday evening, a Saturday morning plunge saw Ten Sovereigns' odds cut to 7/2 generally, even though he drifted to 9/2 on the off.
Quickly into his stride under Moore, he led and was prominent throughout before kicking away from his rivals on the rising ground.
He scooted clear in sensational fashion at the business end of the race, winning by two-and-three-quarter lengths from Advertise with stablemate Fairyland third.
The one-two-three were all three-year-olds, landing a significant blow for the Classic generation.
Michael Bell's Pretty Pollyanna was fourth.
Moore told ITV Racing: "Aidan had him in tip-top shape, he liked the faster ground and was just a bit rusty at Ascot.
"He jumped, travelled nicely and when I gave him a squeeze, he picked up well.
"The other side were ahead of me, he was a bit babyish and I could have done with some help, but he quickened very well. He's very nice."
O'Brien said: "He ran in the three six-furlong races in a month last year and we saw what he did. We slowed him down all winter to try to help him get a mile.
"He ran in the Guineas and nearly got a mile. When we ran him further than his distance, he felt it.
"It took him a bit of time to come out of Newmarket. He was just ready to go to Ascot, but we hadn't really woken him up to go sprinting.
"He went to Ascot and ran a very good race and was finishing well. He looked like a horse that mentally hadn't really clicked in yet.
