He caught Mozart well inside the final furlong and went on to win by two lengths, with Minardi taking third to complete a 1-2-3 for Ballydoyle. After the race Murtagh commented "There was a bit of a mix-up during the week about what I was going to ride and thankfully Aidan put me on Black Minnaloushe. It just goes to show that you need a little bit of luck in this game. [Aidan O'Brien] says he's a horse with lots of ability and sometimes he doesn't always put his best foot forward. Today the race was run to suit him, there was a good strong pace all the way and when the leader started to tire in front of him he got great heart in picking him up". Murtagh retained the ride when Black Minnaloushe was sent to England for the 156th running of the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and started at odds of 8/1 in an eleven-runner field. Noverre started favourite ahead of Minardi, Dandoun (Heron Stakes) and Vahorimix, whilst the other runners were Olden Times (Prix Jean Prat), Tamburlaine, No Excuse Needed (Vintage Stakes), Keltos, the unbeaten Malhub and the Ballydoyle pacemaker Darwin. Murtagh tracked right at the start to settle Black Minnaloushe at the back of the field on the inside rail as Darwin set a strong pace. The colt moved into contention early in the straight before being switched to the left to make his challenge inside the final furlong. In a closely contested finish, he overtook Noverre in the final strides and won by a neck, with Olden Times a head away in third and Vahorimix a further half-length back in fourth. After the race Murtagh commented "When I switched him out, I knew he was going to win ... this was a top class race and a top class horse". He was also reported as saying "I picked him up in the Irish Guineas but everyone said that was a fluke. He's a very good horse, improving all the time". Eighteen days after his win at Ascot, Black Minnaloushe was matched against older horses for the first time and stepped up in distance for the Eclipse Stakes over ten furlongs at Sandown. Ridden by Kinane, the colt started the 5/2 second favourite, but, after being restrained at the rear of the field, he never looked likely to win and finished fifth of the eight runners behind Medicean, Grandera, Bach and Tobougg.