Pierre Royal, the sole Irish challenger, won a thrilling renewal of the bet365 Cambridgeshire at Newmarket.
Pierre Royal returned at 33/1 but he wasn't without supporters having been available at twice those odds on the morning of the race.
The four-year-old, trained by Ado McGuinness, had been running consistently since winning over a mile at the Curragh in June but trailed home down the field at the Irish Champions Festival on ground officially described as good but riding softer than that.
Partnered here by Mikey Sheehy, Pierre Royal raced in the smaller of the two groups on the far rail while a number of the market leaders were in the stands' side group.
As the twenty seven strong field fanned out across the wide expanse of the Rowley Mile inside the final furlong, it was clear there was little between the two groups. Crest Of Fire burst out of the pack on the far side and appeared, to many, to have come with a race winning run under Tom Marquand.
However, a photo was called by the judge and a still of the finish revealed it was far closer than many had believed. Connections didn't have to wait overly long for the outcome with Pierre Royal called the winner by a short-head.
That doesn't tell anywhere near the full tale as 100/1 chance Altareq was just a head away in third for Jim Goldie and apprentice jockey Lauren Young while a neck away in fourth - but first home on the stands' side - was the well supported 4/1 favourite Gavriel who had enjoyed a dream run through against the rail.
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He is like myself, he is a bit big sometimes!
McGuinness said: “We only made our mind up to go on Monday. We were a little disappointed with his run a couple of weeks ago. He ran very well in the Irish Cambridgeshire then we ran him back over a mile two, and the ground was soft, but he didn’t handle it.
“I said this was our only chance of getting another good run into him. He is a lovely horse to train and he is easy. He is very easy on himself. He travels over and he eats.
“He is like myself, he is a bit big sometimes! He just eats, sleeps and drinks. The boys that own him were all at Listowel and they couldn’t come over. We have had a great time with this horse all year and he has paid his way plenty.
“We got him for forty eight thousand guineas last year in Newmarket. He is well bred and I’m delighted for everybody. He was sitting out the back, but I told Mikey to take his time as he has plenty of boot.
“In all fairness to Mikey one of the last rides he took for me was at Galway was a reserve that got in and he won the Galway Mile for me. He is a top class rider. He is one of the top lads at home and I’m delighted I got him.
"I only rang his agent two days ago and I asked if he was available. I said I was going to pick someone who is lucky for me, and in fairness he is top class. I told him what he had to do, and in fairness he did.”
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