De Souza rides to Godolphin’s aid

Ridden with confidence by Silvestre de Sousa, there’s every prospect of Saeed bin Suroor’s five-year-old returning to the Knavesmire for the Ebor in August.

The only disappointment was the William Twiston-Davies-ridden Mad Moose planting himself at the start and refusing to race for the third time in five starts.

Elsewhere, Kingsgate Choice’s narrow win in the 32Red.Com Sprint was a welcome success for Malton jockey Lee Topliss.

Though the sprinter was trained by Ed de Giles, the victory could help kickstart the career of Topliss who is attached to Richard Fahey’s yard.

In other racing news, Hitchens won his second Greenland Stakes in three years at The Curragh for Thirsk trainer David Barron.

The Yorkshire horse was ridden in this Group Three heat by former Derby-winning jockey Johnny Murtagh on the day that he also saddled his first runner as a trainer.

“What a ride from a man who is just about to have his first runner as a trainer,” said Hitchens’s part-owner Laurence O’Kane.

The doughty stayer Al Kazeem – second in York’s Great Voltigeur Stakes in 2011 – produced a tremendous performance to lower the colours of Camelot in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the top Irish track.

The success of Roger Charlton’s British raider was a landmark win for young jockey James Doyle – his first win in Ireland was just his second Group One success in a career that took off when Cityscape won in Dubai last year.

Camelot had won last year’s Epsom Derby before narrowly failing to land the Triple Crown in Doncaster’s St Leger.

“He has lots of class, you have to respect Camelot and all he has done,” said Doyle before connections said that the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe could be Al Kazeem’s long-term target. “All credit to Mr Charlton – he’s done a fantastic job with the horse and he’s done a fantastic job with me as well. He took me on – I’d never even ridden in a Group One race before and he gave me a massive opportunity in Dubai and it paid off.”

The meeting also saw Just The Judge, trained by Charlie Hills and ridden by Jamie Spencer, win the Irish 1,000 Guineas – some compensation for the filly’s narrow second in the English equivalent.

Kingsgate Native ended a three-year losing run when taking the Betfred Temple Stakes at Haydock. However he was slightly fortuitous – the William Buick-ridden Swiss Spirit faltered at the start and the winning post came a stride too soon for the John Gosden-trained second.

Gosden could receive some compensation if Eshtibaak lands today’s Zetland Gold Cup at Redcar. He has opted for this historic handicap after his five-year-old struggled to handle Chester’s tight turns.

Dual Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning trainer Noel Chance has announced his retirement.

Mr Mulligan won Wetherby’s Towton Novices Chase before becoming a first victory in the blue riband race in 1997 for AP McCoy – while Looks Like Trouble’s successful jockey in 2000 was Richard Johnson, now Chance’s son-in-law.

“It’s very difficult to compete at the top level. One of my main owners died a couple of years ago and when he went, the recession came along,” said Chance.

Ryan Mania, victorious on Sue Smith’s Auroras Encore in the Grand National, continued his fine form when Endeavor prevailed at Kelso yesterday.