Tom Dascombe targets Group 2 after getting off the mark in June with impressive Salisbury winner

Italica put his experience to good use to prevail in the competitive 6f novice for trainer Tom Dascombe.

The last-time-out winner made all at Chepstow last month and followed up with a gutsy performance under Richard Kingscote to see off First Time by a head.

Dascombe said: "I know he only scraped home but he did it quite well and Richard gave him a great ride. Quite a few of the other horses were well fancied and we had to give them a bit of weight.

"He really should've won the Lily Agnes but he was drawn in stall 11, but he's done nothing wrong since."

Dascombe continued: "We won a similar race to this before the Sunday of Royal Ascot with Classic Blade, who went on to win the July Stakes, and that has always been the plan for Italica."

This was the Lambourn trainer's first winner of June and he is set to send a couple of outsiders to Royal Ascot.

Dascombe added: "Things could be better at home but Italica has proved today that it's not so much me – it's that we don't have many decent horses. It's not that I can't train anymore. If you get a good one you can win with it and if you get a bad one you struggle. I think every trainer is the same."

Trainer Double 

Italica kicked off a hat-trick on the card for Kingscote, with the other two legs coming for Daniel and Claire Kubler.

Outsider Nanino Niyati defied her 14-1 odds to breeze home five lengths clear in the 1m2f novice, before evens favourite Crimson Spirit landed the 7f handicap.

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