Arabian Story (15/2) made his first start on turf a winning one as he claimed the Britannia Stakes for Saeed bin Suroor and Oisin Murphy.
With the field spread across the track entering the final furlong, it was the stands’ rail where the leaders emerged, with the first five home drawn in stalls 29-30-28-27-31.
Arabian Story repelled La Botte (7/1) by a neck in a bunched finish, with Fearnot (12/1) and Dividend (50/1) a head and a neck further behind. Supido (100/1) finished fifth.
Arabian Story ran twice on dirt at Meydan at the start of the year before taking a maiden impressively on the all-weather at Chelmsford last month.
Bin Suroor said: “We had Arabian Story in Dubai and physically he improved a lot there. We gave him a race at Chelmsford and he pleased me. We thought, okay, let’s go to Royal Ascot.
“I talked to Oisin and said this horse is a mile-and-a-quarter horse but, over the mile, you have to be handy with him. He gave him a good ride. Oisin is the best jockey in the world.
“Arabian Story is still improving. We will find a race for him now, maybe a Group race. I talked to Oisin after the race and he said to me that the horse is Group class.
“I used to have 150 horses in Dubai, and quality, but now we have 30 horses in the stable. The young ones are still backward but we are still trying hard. We try the best with what we have.”
Murphy said: “Arabian Story is quite lazy, but he was very good at Chelmsford. He got a little bit of experience in Dubai on the dirt, which he didn’t enjoy but made him tough. I was delighted with his attitude today.
“He will be a Group Three horse going a mile and a quarter. He was the first one off the bridle, and it’s very hard to win at Ascot on the straight course when that happens, so he’s got a fair level of ability. It is lovely to win one for Saeed.”