The unbeaten juvenile champion Teofilo is now as low as 11 to 8 favourite for this year's 2,000 Guineas after the weekend's shock decision by John Magnier's Coolmore Stud to retire Holy Roman Emperor to stud just weeks before the Flat season begins.
An astonishing sequence of events, beginning with the discovery that last year's brilliant Guineas winner George Washington is infertile, led to the swift removal of Holy Roman Emperor from Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle yard on Saturday and the end of the racing career of the trainer's top classic prospect for 2007.
"Shell-shocked," was O'Brien's initial reaction after a tumultuous Saturday morning that began with a brilliant work-out by the double Group One-winning colt and then ended with the start of a stud career at nearby Coolmore.
"Paul Shanahan (Coolmore adviser) was here at 11.30 and the box came for the horse at 11.50. I spoke to the boss (Magnier) in between and, the more I tried to persuade him, the more convinced he became that we had to retire him," explained O'Brien.
It has been reported that Holy Roman Emperor covered his first mare on the same day, a move that emphasises even more the commercial priority of Magnier's Coolmore operation, and one that has been undertaken to salvage as much as possible from the multi-million euro implications of George Washington's infertility.
Last season's charismatic champion miler retired to stud at the end of 2006 complete with a €60,000 covering fee. But the results of about 40 mares which the horse has covered so far in this breeding season have all been negative.
Not surprisingly, O'Brien, while disappointed at the removal of his best classic hope, pointed to the commercial requirements from Coolmore.
"The boss has his clients and he obviously has to take care of them. They are trying to replace like with like. Holy Roman Emperor is by Danehill and has a super physique too. With all those mares booked to George, they felt they had to pull out all the stops. It's a sickener, but it's a business decision," the champion trainer said.
The results of conclusive tests on George Washington's fertility are still awaited, but the move does leave open the intriguing possibility of a return to racing action for the horse which also won last year's Queen Elizabeth II Stakes before unsuccessfully bowing out on dirt in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Holy Roman Emperor also won the Phoenix Stakes as a juvenile and, in between defeats to Teofilo in the National Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes, he was an impressive winner of the Group One Prix Jean Luc Lagadere at Longchamp.
Mount Nelson, at 12 to 1, is now the lowest priced Ballydoyle-trained horse in the Guineas betting, but the market for the opening classic of the season at Newmarket is dominated even more by Holy Roman Emperor's old rival Teofilo.
