'He has a future' - Haggas juvenile lands maiden won by Golden Horn and Adayar

Wednesday: Nottingham

Laafi added his name to an illustrious honour roll for the EBF Stallions Golden Horn maiden that includes the Derby and Arc winner and fellow Epsom Classic hero Adayar.

Cieren Fallon’s mount, trained by William Haggas, finished fifth in a 7f maiden on Sun Chariot day at Newmarket at the start of the month and relished the step up to a mile when hitting the front late for a half-length success.

Laafi, who was backed into 15-8 favouritism from 11-4 with bet365 on Tuesday evening, was a first winner in Britain for sire Cloth Of Stars.

Philip Robinson, racing manager for owner Sheikh Hamed Dalmook Al Maktoum, said: “He’s a work in progress but there’s a bit left in the tank for next year, and he’ll be at his best over further.

“He has a future and shown a gradual improvement over the year, so it’s nice to finish off his season on a high.”

Haggas’s two runners on the eight-race card were winners as Shadwell filly Tarhib landed the feature 5f handicap worth £35,000.

Tarhib’s jockey Jim Crowley said: “She's been pretty consistent and William said she was in the best form he’d had her going into today – he's a good judge!”

Prince prevails

The photo-finish angle can be deceiving at Nottingham and trainer Richard Hughes feared the worst at the end of the 1m6f handicap before the verdict went to Prince Imperial.

Pat Cosgrave’s mount, owned by Highclere, stayed on dourly in the straight to peg back Miranda, although the runner-up rallied late for a tense finish.

A winter campaign beckons for Prince Imperial with Hughes eyeing a London Stayers’ Series qualifier at Kempton on November 16 for the Cesarewitch trial runner-up.

Hughes said: “I thought he was beaten at the line. He looked like he had it won 100 yards out, then drifted and I thought he’d been headed.

“He’s had a light campaign, he’s tough and wins on the all-weather, so we’ll keep him going. There’ll be six runners in those two-mile races after Christmas, so it makes sense to target them.”

Amateur crowned

Ross Birkett was crowned champion amateur for a third time after the final race of the series went to the Jason Dixon-ridden 40-1 shot Contrast for Mick and David Easterby.

Birkett, who is assistant trainer in Newmarket to his mother Julia Feilden and agent for apprentices Frederick Larson and Rose Dawes, was a joint winner with Jordan Williams in 2014 and the outright champion in 2020.

Birkett, 33, said: “I can't believe how well the year has gone and I've had plenty of good support. I've been doing it a while now. I keep chipping away and try and stop Simon Walker winning too many titles!”

Dawn digs deep

Poet’s Dawn did his yard moniker justice by staying on gamely to land the 1m½f handicap.

The Tim Easterby-trained seven-year-old is impressively versatile and jockey David Allan said: “He’s known as Little Warrior in the yard as he goes on anything, tries hard and runs regularly. He’s as game as they come.”

Results, replays and analysis

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