Trainer Aidan O'Brien claimed a 1-2-3 to continue his recent dominance of the race.
Aidan O'Brien sent home the 1-2-3 in the Group 3 Chester Vase to land his sixth success in the last seven runnings of the race. Sent off the 5/2 favourite, Venice Beach stayed on strongly under Ryan Moore to deny stablemates The Anvil and Wings Of Eagles and throw his name into the Investec Derby mix.
Bookmakers were suitably impressed, cutting the Galieo colt into as short as 12/1 (from 33's) for The Classic in June.
Speaking after the race, Moore said: "I thought it was a very good performance from a lightly-raced colt who is still learning. He was a little bit babyish through the race. When he had a bit of room to go in the straight he picked up and won his race. He's learning about it all still. It's early days for him. I'd be very happy with that. He's (got) a beautiful pedigree and a good brain and I'm pretty sure he's got a good future."
Venice Beach leads home an Aidan O'Brien one-two-three in the MBNA Chester Vase. The trainer's fifth in a row pic.twitter.com/PqFmllvBQ2
— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) May 11, 2017
His trainer was equally impressed, and told ITV Racing: "Delighted, we knew that he stays a mile and a half. He's a little lazy and a bit bayish (and) that's why we felt it would be important to bring him here, he had a good bit to learn. Ryan was very happy with him, he just said when he got there he was just a little bit lazy but that's the way he is. You'd have to be happy. We think he's a horse who will improve."
The second and third in the race also saw their odds cut with The Anvil as short as 25/1 (best price 50/1) and Wings Of Eagles also 25/1 (best price 33/1).
The race has proven to be a strong trial for the second Classic of the season in recent years with Ruler Of The World going on to win the race in 2013 and US Army Ranger finishing second in 2016.
