Farraaj made up for lost time when showing his class to land the Blue Square Bet Winter Derby at Lingfield.

The lightly-raced four-year-old had far too much speed for the opposition in the closing stages as he broke the course record for the mile and a quarter.

Sent off the 6-4 favourite, he certainly had the form in the book despite not having many miles on the clock.

Third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in November 2011 and third in the Italian 2000 Guineas and winner of Listed race on his only two starts last year, Farraaj added a Group Three success to his CV.

After getting the better of Cai Shen just inside the final furlong, Farraaj was challenged hard by Robin Hoods Bay but stuck to his guns under Andrea Atzeni's handling to prevail by half a length.

It was a significant success for the winning pilot with Varian confirming earlier this week that Neil Callan will no longer be stable jockey for his yard.

Cai Shen, runner-up 12 months ago, had to settle for third spot this time, a further three-quarters of a length away.

"They went a nice gallop and he travelled nicely off a good pace. He quickened and saw it out well," said Varian.

"He's always been a horse of potential, he's never run a bad race. He was a bit delicate last year and had just the two starts, but he was third in the Italian Guineas and won a Listed race last November.

"We'll have to see what we do from here. He's got a Group Three penalty to burden at that level. It's only March so we won't be in a rush to make plans for him. He goes quite well fresh and if we run him on the turf he'd probably want top of the ground."

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