Trainer Danny O'Brien made amends for a series of recent disappointments with a double in the first two races at Flemington on Saturday with a pair of horses who had typified his bad luck.

O'Brien opened his account with Excitable Boy who bounced back from a run the trainer described as a "train wreck" at his previous start.

The colt was hampered by interference in the Talindert Stakes but a clearer passage on Saturday allowed him to let down strongly under Noel Callow to take out the Listed Festival Of Racing 1000 (1000m).

"He had a train wreck last time," O'Brien said.

"Nothing went right and he got in real trouble the whole race. Noel kept him out of trouble today and it was good to see him really let down like a nice horse."

Excitable Boy scored by 1-1/4 lengths over Mount Zero with first starter Sanosuke 1-3/4 lengths away third.

O'Brien said the win would be a confidence booster for Excitable Boy who'll chase more stakes success but is likely to be kept below the top level.

"He's a tough two-year-old and has got a few more runs in him," O'Brien said.

O'Brien's double came up in the Jeune Handicap (2000m) thanks to Keep Cool who laid claim to being the most consistent horse in his stable.

Keep Cool's win was the third from his past four starts and made amends for his last-start third behind Bells Of Troy at Flemington two weeks ago.

In that run he raced clear with 400m to run, only to be cut down in the last 20 metres.

"Probably a little bit went wrong last time," O'Brien said.

Aided by a perfect Craig Williams ride, the favourite Keep Cool ($2.60) scored by 1-1/4 lengths from Whisper Downs ($8) with the same margin to Zlatan ($10) in third.

Both wins came soon after O'Brien learned of the death of his 2007 Caulfield Cup winner Master O'Reilly.

"He was a great warrior for us and provided me with one of my greatest thrills," O'Brien said.