had not originally been intended to run in the race and had only been entered when his owners paid a supplementary fee of £45,000 fifteen minutes before the deadline earlier that week. He went on to say "It was a big challenge for the horse. We were worried that the pace was going to be completely different over a mile. We just put the blinkers on him just to sharpen him a little bit. He needed to be focused very quick and he didn't have a lot of time to learn about it". Circus Maximus was matched against older horses in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse on 31 July. After tracking the front-running Phoenix of Spain he took the lead in the straight but was overtaken by Too Darn Hot and beaten half a length into second place. In the International Stakes over ten and a half furlongs at York Racecourse three weeks later, Circus Maximus set the pace before fading in the last quarter mile and coming home seventh behind his stablemate Japan. On 9 September the colt was sent to France and went off at odds of 4.1/1 for the Prix du Moulin over 1600 metres at Longchamp Racecourse. Romanised headed the betting after winning the Prix Jacques Le Marois while the other eight runners included Olmedo (Poule d'Essai des Poulains), Line of Duty (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf) and Phoenix of Spain. After racing in third place Circus Maximus moved up to dispute the lead 200 metres from the finish and got the better of a closely contested struggle with Romanised to win by a nose. Circus Maximus hung to the left in the closing stages and slightly impeded the runner-up but after an inquiry by the racecourse stewards the result was allowed to stand. Ryan Moore commented "He was the best horse on the day and was always holding off the second. He had a bit more left in the tank. He's obviously well suited to a mile. There were six group 1 winners in the field and you have to be very happy with what he's done." An appeal by Romanised's connections failed to overturn the decision. For his final run of the year Circus Maximus was sent to California to contest the Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita Park on 1 November and started joint-favourite alongside the four-year-old filly Got Stormy. He recovered from