Daiquiri Bay (6/1) confirmed Newmarket form with fellow four-year-old Gamrai (9/2) as the duo fought out the finish to the concluding Copper Horse Stakes.
Alan King’s improving winner had finished a length in front of Gamrai on the Rowley Mile in early May and was able to confirm that form on 2lb worse terms with a head verdict under Rossa Ryan.
Paddy The Squire (22/1) stayed on well from off the pace to finish third, with Irish raider Aeronautic (12/1) taking fourth.
Daiquiri Bay, who finished eighth in last year’s King George V Stakes, won today off a mark of 100 and could now be set for a switch of codes.
King said: “That was good. I’ve got my jump jockey on the phone – I think he wants to know if this horse is going hurdling!
“Rossa is a master. We had a bad draw [12] today and were much further back than we wanted to be, about 12th going into the first bend. But the horse has really improved. I was slightly worried the ground was as quick as we’d want it, but we got away with it.
“He’ll go jumping. If you think you’ve got a good Flat horse, I don’t like going jumping with them as three-year-olds – I give them another year on the Flat. I think he could be quite exciting, but that’s for another day.
“He’s not slow – he could easily drop back to a mile and a half. The reason we came today was that, with the forecast, he was entered on Friday, but this is probably the best ground for him we’ll get this week and it will quicken up more than he wants.
“This is a special place. My old boss David Nicholson brought me here 30 years ago and I think I’ve only missed one, when it was at York. Great place. I adore it.”
Ryan said: “Brilliant. I have got more enjoyment out of this lad winning today than I have out of all the rest of them. There is one man [Alan King] who has been right in my corner all the time. We had a plan with this lad – and it was a plan well executed.
“I wanted to be a bit handier. I jumped well, but I couldn’t go the gallop and couldn’t get in. Luckily, I had Ascending to aim at because I thought he was guaranteed to get me into the race, and the way they stacked up around the bend helped as well.
“The Newmarket form paid dividends again and we still aren’t on his ideal conditions. I think when he gets on slower ground, he’ll be even better. But he’s a horse who’s coming of age and I’m just delighted for the man who trains him. He’s been very good to me and this was one I really wanted to tick off for him. He is a pure gent.
“We mapped out a plan for this lad around March or April and, luckily, we’ve had a clear run with him. Hopefully it’s onwards and upwards now and we can start thinking a little bit bigger with him.
“My parents don’t come over much but, when they do, we go for lunch with Alan and he’s become a very good family friend on top of it all. If ever I could ride one for someone, it’s him.”