Ghaiyyath gallops into Classic picture at Newmarket

Ghaiyyath earned quotes for next year's Investec Derby after making his second start a winning one in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes at Newmarket.

Having finished third on his debut at Doncaster, the Charlie Appleby-trained son of Dubawi, who cost €1.1 million as a foal, made the necessary progression to run out a facile five-length winner of the mile contest.

The Godolphin-owned 11-8 favourite was introduced at 33-1 for the Epsom Classic with Stan James and 25-1 with Paddy Power.

“I was very confident this horse would come on from his first run, but we put the hood on because he wasn’t showing speed.

“He is a mile and a half horse and we just wanted to keep the lid on him, so that’s why we went out in front today to get into a nice rhythm.

“At Doncaster, a more experienced horse got in front and steadied it up a bit and he was over-racing a bit in behind, but the experience did him good.

"What he showed us today is what he has been showing us at home. The pedigree is there for all to see (by Dubawi out of Galileo mare Nightime) and his price-tag (1.1m euros), but to be honest, when I saw the rain come down this morning, I thought I would have preferred to see this horse on a sounder surface. But he is a lovely horse and has a bright future.”

Doyle added: “The ground is not bad – just on the easy side. It has taken the rain well.

“He has done some nice bits of work and he was just a bit gassy last time and Doncaster, when they went very slow and sprinted, and he just got caught a bit flat-footed.

“Today, we did want to try and get him to chill, so we popped a hood on him to try and keep him calm and it worked. I was able to stay out on my own a bit, so nothing was hassling him which helped. He out-stayed them – he’s an out-and-out galloper. I was just keen to get him to relax, really.

"You would think, given his pedigree, he would be better on better ground, but he is pretty versatile – the ground is not that bad out there, and he has coped with it fine.”