MECCA’S Angel, one of the very best five-furlong sprinters of modern times, won her second Group 1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes in dazzling style on the Knavesmire yesterday.

With the rain coming in the nick of time, it took the sting out of the ground and she was always prominent before kicking clear two furlongs from home, going on to beat the gambled-on July Cup winner Limato by two lengths, with 25/1 chance Take Cover running a blinder in third.

Never brought under maximum pressure by Paul Mulrennan, Mecca’s Angel was merely ridden out with hands and heels, taking only a single smack behind the saddle in the closing stages. She came very close to the course record without being driven right out and is a superstar beyond question. Credit must go to trainer Michael Dods, who brought her right back to her best after a single poor run in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot.

The Nunthorpe often sees any number of horses in with a chance from halfway but Mecca’s Angel, 9/2 from 13/2 with the rain falling, and Limato were clearly going best towards the far side. Henry Candy’s runner-up deserves great credit on this drop to the minimum trip, but top five-furlong races are all about speed and he could not reach the filly in the closing stages.

“She’s just a very special filly, an aeroplane,’’ Mulrennan said. “I don’t know what to say, except that she’s given me my first two Group 1 winners. I’d like to be able to say that she’s difficult and gives you problems but she doesn’t. I just have to point her in the right direction.’’

After Ascot, Dods sent Mecca’s Angel to Ireland to get back on the winning track.

“I had a sleepless night because I knew they weren’t going to put any water on,’’ he said. “But when I got there it was raining. I thought it would be good ground by the time they raced and that’s the point about this filly. It doesn’t have to be soft because she’s got two more gears on good ground, but it mustn’t be too firm. I said to Paul: ‘Don’t let anyone intimidate her, because she doesn’t like that. Just let her go, and she did just that.’

“David (Metcalfe, the filly’s owner) said he wanted a great filly but didn’t want to spend more than 15 grand. Well, she was a bit more than that, not much, and he said he wasn’t paying all of that, so I had to keep a leg!”

The Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp more or less picks itself for Mecca’s Angel, but Candy intends sending Limato, supported right down to 15/8 here, to the Breeders’ Cup.