It was the most significant result of the summer - Continent beating his stablemate Bahamian Pirate in the Darley July Cup at Newmarket.
Their trainer Dandy Nicholls' performance in recording a 1-2 in the race billed as Europe's premier sprint was truly magnificent.
It was also terribly, terribly important for racing because, for a short while anyway, it eclipsed Aidan O'Brien, whose monopoly of virtually everything worth winning this year has made life just a tiny bit predictable and dull.
You have to applaud his brilliance, but this ought to spur on his opponents who have often been conspicuous by their silence.
That Newmarket result, along with the 33-1 shock provided by Margarula, at the expense of O'Brien's Quarter Moon in the Darley Irish Oaks at The Curragh, two or three days later, brought us all back down to earth with a comforting bump.
Even Aidan is human, though we had begun to wonder.
Nicholls joins party
Dandy Nicholls, who had been runner-up in the Cup 20 years earlier as a jockey, on Soba, a marvellous speedster of that time, has long specialised in this kind of race, but he is no giant of the turf, just one of the boys.
It has been valuable handicap races, like the Ayr Gold Cup that have mainly been his thing, but here he was seeing off the ubiquitous challenge of Aidan O'Brien's legions at the very highest level.
He showed that the seemingly unstoppable O'Brien juggernaut, which has landed a majority of the biggest prizes this year, including a trilby full of European Classics, could be halted.
But none is all that expensive, and there is nothing flash about the operation. No unnecessary spending on vets' fees, for example. He just gets on with it.
Actually, chatting amid all the post-race euphoria, his main concern was to look forward to having a crack, with Continent and Bahamian Pirate, at next month's Nunthorpe Stakes at York.
"I'm a tight Yorkshireman, you see," he grinned, "and I like going down the road - it's cheap, and it's home."
Let's hope that many other trainers, whatever Aidan O'Brien runs in the race, join Nicholls.
There has been a suspicion that many have been scared away this season by the Irishman's formidable rivalry, leading to small fields, and the arrival of an uncompetitive nature to the game.
For the good of racing that must not be allowed to become the norm, and, after the July Cup, there can be no excuses. Even in the O'Brien era- within reason- anything is still possible. Ask Dandy.