Gear Up maintained his unbeaten record with a battling victory in the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York.
Mark Johnston's charge won on debut at the Knavesmire but the chances of him following up here looked bleak passing the furlong pole as Spycatcher (20/1) seemed to take his measure.
However the 8/1 winner battled back tenaciously under Silvestre De Sousa and was back on top close home, winning by half-a-length.
Disappointment of the race was even-money favourite Cloudbridge who could only finish eighth after racing too keenly.
The winning rider said: "He was a different horse from his debut here. He jumped off and knew his job. He showed a very willing attitude."
Sky Bet make the winner a 33/1 chance for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas with Betfair and Paddy Power offering 50/1.
Johnston said: “He got loose before he won on his debut and everyone was thinking of him as quite a difficult horse. In the race first time, he was off the bridle early before flying home.
“He was very different in the prelims today – laid back and relaxed and Silvestre said he learned more today than first time.
“He’s not the most impressive horse at home, but we’ve seen his style again today, he looked the first under pressure then found more and more.
“He wants a mile now and he’s bred to get a mile. We weren’t thinking he’d be ready this early, despite it being August now. He’ll have one or two more runs maximum and my first thought was the Royal Lodge.”
Karl Burke was pleased with Spycatcher’s effort in second.
He said: “I thought we had it at the furlong pole when he went a length or so clear. He’s a nice colt, but there’s improvement in him. He didn’t really have a race first time when it all went wrong and he fell out of the stalls. He’ll learn a lot from today and he’s having a good, healthy blow.
“He travelled great and the winner is just typical of one of Mark’s – they don’t stop. I’m not sure where we’ll go now. We’ll just get him back home and see how he comes out of it.”
- Johnston completed a 189/1 double when Summer Moon took the Sky Bet Handicap.
The two mile contest turned into a war of attrition down the straight and the Joe Fanning-ridden winner showed tremendous resolution to wear down Rajinsky and win by three-quarters-of-a-length.
"I was struggling to get there for a long way but he's done it well. He's tough and keeps trying," the winning rider said.
