Yibir delivers Voltigeur victory for Appleby and Doyle

Yibir bounced back from a disappointing run at Goodwood to land the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes at York.

The Dubawi gelding was the second string for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby behind Kemari after finishing unplaced in the Gordon Stakes, but came out on top with an emphatic display in this Group Two over a mile and a half.

The Mediterranean, one of three runners for trainer Aidan O'Brien, set the pace and did not give up the lead without a fight but he finally had to give way to Yibir.

The 6-1 shot, who had won the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket's July meeting, was produced by James Doyle to hit the front in the final furlong and pull away to score by a length and a quarter. The Mediterranean held on for second by half a length from Youth Spirit, who just held Sir Lucan for third spot.

The Mediterranean was cut to 10-1 from 33-1 for the Cazoo St Leger with Betfair. Yibir is not qualified to run at Doncaster as he is a gelding.

Appleby said: "Everyone is asking me if it was a surprise, but the rule of thumb is I try not to run them if I don't think they're going to run well. It doesn't always work out, mind you!

"He's been such a great work horse and has danced every dance.

"We put him in those (Derby) trials for a reason in the spring - we really fancied him as being a proper mile-and-a-half horse.

"We've had our quirks with him - he's been gelded and we've had the hood on and the hood off.

"We were delighted with him on his first start after the gelding operation in the Bahrain Trophy, but he still tended to have a little wander, and then at Goodwood he just latched on and ran his race the wrong way round.

"The plan today was to put the hood on and I told James to bury him, so he can learn to do things the right way round going forward.

"He's got a lot of potential and it's just about trying to get him on his right day.

"His constitution is a credit to himself as he's had plenty of racing and doesn't miss out in the mornings."

On future plans, the trainer added: "It was always the plan after this to hopefully go to America with him for the Jockey Club Stakes at Belmont - a three-year-old race over a mile and a half.

"He's a gelding now, so he'll up for a bit of travelling and we'll have a bit of fun with him."

The Moulton Paddocks handler also provided an update on plans for his Derby and King George hero Adayar and his Irish Derby-winning stablemate Hurricane Lane.

He said: "Thankfully we seem to have the strength in depth with the three-year-olds and we're coming into the autumn now with Adayar and Hurricane Lane.

"They're both in great order and have had a nice little break since their last starts.

"We'll head to the Prix Niel with Adayar and the plan is to go straight to the St Leger with Hurricane Lane."

Andrew Balding is planning to head to Doncaster with Youth Spirit.

He said: "I'm thrilled with that, he seems to stay very well. He's got the Leger entry and that is probably where we'll head with him."

Royal Patronage, the outsider of five at 25-1, ran his rivals into the ground to take the Group Three honours in the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York.

The Mark Johnston-trained youngster was the most experienced horse in the five-runner field with three previous outings and he gave a thoroughly professional performance to see off better-fancied opposition in smooth style.

Jason Hart dictated affairs from the start on Royal Patronage, who only opened his account three weeks ago. He wound up the tempo in the straight and comfortably kept the rest of the field at bay.

He stayed on strongly to score by two and a quarter lengths from Imperial Fighter to give Johnston back-to-back victories in the race and a fifth in all.

Bookmakers Coral quoted Royal Patronage at 25-1 for the Qipco 2000 Guineas with Paddy Power going 20-1.

Johnston said: "While he was the most exposed, I was surprised he was the outsider but there was plenty of hype around the other runners.

"We were discussing after Epsom that this seemed the obvious place to come and we did bring him to the Dante meeting which shows what we thought of him.

"He was beaten over six first time out, ran well second time at Sandown and then showed what we always thought of him at Epsom.

"We won this with Bijou d'Inde way back when it was a conditions race. Darryll Holland rode him, jumped off and said he was a Group One horse and I think you need to be one to win the Acomb.

"He's won a Group Three and the only way is up for the moment.

"Jason rode him last time and does ride fairly regularly for us, so was the obvious choice to ride.

"I'm not sure where we'll go next, he's got quotes for the Guineas but he might be more a Dante type."

Andrew Balding was satisfied with the effort of runner-up Imperial Fighter. He said: "I'm happy with that - it was a good run. He'll stay further in time and he's going to be a nice horse."

Copper Knight landed a sixth course success at York when taking the Sky Bet And Symphony Group Handicap, the opening race of the four-day Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival.

Tim Easterby’s seven-year-old showed blistering speed to spring an 18-1 surprise in the sprint over five and a half furlongs.

A winner over the five furlongs on this course in May, Copper Knight was quickly away from stall three on the far side and soon leading the pack under David Allan.

The Sir Prancealot gelding galloped home to record a 10th career success by three-quarters of a length from Live In The Moment. Hurricane Ivor was a neck away in third and Jawwaal a head back in fourth.

Easterby said: “He’s a wonderful horse. Dave said he’s not felt like that for a long time. He likes that good ground and just coasted along. He got a nice tow into it and it was brilliant to watch.

“I don’t train him really – he trains himself. He lobs away out the back, canters round and you don’t do anything fancy with him.

“He’s an absolute star and we’ll look at the Portland (at Doncaster) maybe. He was in on Saturday at Chester, but he won’t run there now – he’s earned his corn now.”

Arcadian Sunrise was the winner of the two-mile and half-a-furlong Sky Bet Handicap at York.

Ridden by Jamie Spencer and trained by John Queally, the gelding was victorious as the 11-4 favourite.

Tweet Tweet won the IRE Incentive, It Pays To Buy Irish Stakes at York. Ridden by Harrison Shaw and trained by Declan Carroll, the three-year-old enjoyed a comfortable success - having started at 7-1.