Battaash and Laurens set for York

For the second year in row, the Charlie Hills-trained speedball found the now-retired Blue Point too strong in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot, but he was a prohibitively-priced 1-4 favourite to claim a ninth career win in a five-furlong Group Two he dominated in 2017 and 2018.

The five-year-old jumped out of the stalls smartly and after taking an early lead from outsider Ornate, he took over passing the two-furlong marker.

Just when it looked he would go on to record another emphatic success, the high-class Australian mare Houtzen – making her first start for trainer Martyn Meade – came from out of the pack to throw down a challenge, and briefly looked set to make a real race of it.

In the end, however, Battaash was well on top as he passed the post three-quarters of a length to the good.

Hills said: “It’s very nerve-racking. It’s just such a pleasure to be involved with a horse like this.

“I think it’s the first time it’s ever been done – to win three King Georges – so we’re quite emotional.

“He seemed to be idling there in front, which is a good sign.

“He’s taking his racing much better and there are a good few races we can target towards the end of the year.

“We’ve got a good routine with him at home now and know exactly what to do.’’

Battaash has disappointed in the Nunthorpe in each of the past two seasons, but Hills said: “Sheikh Hamdan is very keen to go to York with him and it’s good timing for that race.

“Obviously he hasn’t won there before, but I sort of scratch my head because there’s no reason why he shouldn’t handle a track like that.”

Another on target for the Ebor meeting is Laurens, who is set to take in the Sky Bet City of York Stakes.

Having got back to winning ways over a mile in the Prix Rothschild, owner John Dance and trainer Karl Burke have had discussions and studied footage which has led them to believe their star filly deserves a crack at seven furlongs.

The Prix de la Foret is the main race on their minds, but they are keen to test her out over the shorter trip first, with a return to Ireland for the Matron Stakes also in the mix.

“We have decided against the Prix Jean Romanet, it’s a quick enough turnaround and we definitely want to go back for the Matron, but that is six weeks away,’’ said Dance

“We’ve digested her last run and had a look at her sectional times, the speed she was showing, and we’re itching to try her over seven furlongs again.

“She hasn’t run over it since her two-year-old days, but she’s bigger and stronger and is showing more and more speed and we’d all like to try the Foret, which would mean missing the Sun Chariot the day before.

“If this is her last season, which it probably will be, I don’t want to look at her in a field thinking, ‘I wonder how she would have fared over shorter?’.’’

“She had the race put to bed at halfway last week, running the first five furlongs in something like 58 seconds and I don’t think I’ve had a five-furlong horse who could do that!

“It will mean taking on colts again and it might be all too quick, but at least when she’s retired there won’t be any wondering about how she would have done.

“With that in mind and the Matron being six weeks away, we’d quite like to run before as it’s not easy to find something to work with her so we’d like her to have one more run in England, preferably up north, so we are thinking strongly about the City of York Stakes on Ebor day.

“That’s over seven. She’s as well having a race than a gallop, there’s also the ‘goodbye’ element and it also gives us a chance to experiment with tactics before going for the Foret.”