Align The Stars wore down bottom-weight Kirchner to win the JenningsBet Northumberland Plate for Charlie Johnston and Daniel Muscutt.
The principals were always close to the pace and had the valuable pot between them throughout the final furlong.
The runner-up briefly held the advantage but hard against the stands’ rail, the 10/1 winner found extra to forge on again and score by a length-and-a-quarter.
Synergism (9/1) and Saint Etienne (18/1) came through for third and fourth respectively.
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The winning jockey told ITV Racing: “I was able to keep out wide and see the ones who were in front didn’t want to be there and when William Buick (on Bahadur) swept forward I went with him.
“He’s a horse who does warm to his racing, the further he goes through the race the better he goes and I was able to control when we got rolling and when he hit the two pole he was in full cry and stayed on very well.”
The winning trainer added: “It’s a hugely prestigious race to win in this part of the world and I’m delighted. It’s a plan that’s been a while in coming. After he won the Queen’s Vase at Kempton we thought this race as the obvious mid-season target for him.
“We resisted the temptation to go to Ascot last week and it’s paid off. If you’d asked me post-Glorious Goodwood a couple of years ago I’d have told you I thought this was a Cup horse. He was on a real upward trajectory at that point and we thought he was our next kingpin stayer.
“The wheels came off last year but thankfully Tony Farmer, his owner, was very patient. We regrouped over the winter, gelded him, and things have come back. Being a man local to York, Tony’s ultimate ambition in life would be to win the Ebor so I’m sure that will be his big season target and he'll probably go to Goodwood for the race he won a couple of seasons ago between now and then.”
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