Harry Davies registered back-to-back victories in the Ladbrokes Chester Cup as East India Dock made a brilliant winning return to the Flat.
Successful aboard Hugo Palmer's Zoffee 12 months ago, Davies is now forming a blossoming relationship with Newmarket handler James Owen and delivered the Triumph Hurdle third to perfection in the prestigious £170,000 handicap.
It was Ryan Moore who set the fractions aboard Joseph O’Brien’s Leinster and when the leading jockey allowed his mount to stride on passing the five-furlong marker on the second circuit, the four-year-old appeared full of running.
The field swarmed rounding the home turn with George Scott’s progressive Caballo De Mar laying down a stern challenge and hitting the front a furlong out, but East India Dock was staying on with every stride as the 9-4 favourite turned Cheltenham Festival disappointment into Roodee delight.
Owen’s charge returned a length verdict over Caballo De Mar, with defending champion and Davies’ old favourite Zoffee an honourable third, and the winning trainer was delighted to see a plan come together for his owners.
He said: "He travelled lovely and hit his flat spot like he usually does but he stayed on well.
"Tim and Mr (Bill) Gredley had this plan and it’s great that we have pulled it off. There are some big pots on the Flat and he’s a lovely dual-purpose horse now.
"To win the Chester Cup is fantastic, we’ve hit the crossbar a few times coming here, but it’s nice to have a winner here and we’ve won the big one."
The Foxes (above) demonstrated his class with a decisive victory in the Ire-Incentive, It Pays To Buy Irish Huxley Stakes .
From his position in stall one, Oisin Murphy got the perfect run round aboard the son of Churchill, always travelling smoothly and in the ideal spot to pounce at the business end of the Group Two event.
The champion jockey angled out the 13-8 favourite rounding the home turn and he had plenty of horse underneath him to gallop on to score by a length and three-quarters from Alice Haynes' 40-1 outsider Cairo.
It was the perfect way for the Andrew Balding-trained five-year-old to build on an opening run of the year in Qatar in February, with a host of big-race options now available.
Balding, speaking away from the course said: "We’re delighted with him and he’s a very good horse on his day.
"He had a few niggles mid-season last year but he’s come back strong with a couple of good runs abroad and he looked there like he was somewhere near his best, which is encouraging for the season ahead.
"This horse is effective at a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half really, but we will probably explore mile-and-a-quarter options and possibly look at Royal Ascot."
