Man Of Iron gave Europe and Aidan O'Brien the perfect possible start to the weekend by winning the Breeders' Cup Marathon at Santa Anita.

While all European interest surrounded St Leger winner Mastery and Henry Cecil's Father Time, Man Of Iron slipped under the radar.

Cloudy's Knight appeared to have his rivals cooked, especially when he saw off Godolphin's Mastery, but Johnny Murtagh brought Man Of Iron with a withering run near the rail to snatch victory from the American veteran inside the final strides.

John Magnier, part of the Ballydoyle triumvirate, said: "Johnny called the race correctly. He said he would be taking his time and once Johnny got in there with a chance, Johnny always has a chance. We'd forgotten our way to the winner's circle but now we've found our way here, let's hope there are a few more."

Dettori said of Mastery: "He's run very well but it was perhaps one race too many."

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor added: "He's run OK but I'm disappointed with the result. Coming off the bend I thought he was going to win, but he's been beaten by a better horse on the day and we have plenty with good chance over the remainder of the meeting."

Homeister jnr said of the runner-up: "He's just a fantastic horse and has run his best ever race. We got to the quarter pole and I asked him and he's given me everything.

"He could see the horse on his outside (Mastery) but not the one on his inside (Man Of Iron) and he's just got pipped. I thought we had won, but we've just been beaten by a bob of heads."