SIR Michael Stoute’s excellent recent run continued on Thursday night when Regal Reality landed the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes in emphatic fashion from the front-running Matterhorn at Sandown. The son of Intello, well-beaten behind Without Parole in the Heron Stakes on this card a year ago, has progressed as so many Freemason Lodge projects do, and put up a career-best performance to win by a deceptively wide margin under the guidance of Ryan Moore. In fairness, Matterhorn kept plugging away, and the fact the margin had grown to almost four lengths at the line reflects well on the winner.

If he got merit points for the way he went about his business, though, he was only making up for the points docked pre-race by the good-behaviour judges when he proved reluctant to enter the parade ring or go to post in the manner expected, looking anything but in love with the job in hand. Once underway, however, he was as good as gold, and while entries in the Queen Anne and Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Ascot look slightly ambitious bearing in mind he was racing a couple of rungs down the ladder here, he will continue to pay his way, with connections nominating the SkyBet York Stakes as the next target, with any attempt at Group 1 glory put back until he’s matured a little more.

Regal Reality wasn’t the only one shunning the limelight, and a complaint from a number of racegoers I spoke to was that many of the runners were late into the parade ring. This is annoying at the best of times, but Sandown has one of the most iconic paddocks in world racing, and to under-utilise it is a dreadful shame. Hopefully, the complaints raised will see the issue addressed by Sandown’s next meeting.

Queen Mary for Strippa

The National Stakes went to the intriguingly-named Flippa The Strippa, who has improved with each start, but this listed contest saw the two form horses finish last and second last despite them occupying the best draws. That casts some doubt over the form, and the winner’s waywardness in front could be taken as a sign that she is quirky, or that she didn’t know what to do in front and could be better than the bare form. Owner Chris Wright suggested the Queen Mary a more likely target than the Albany at Royal Ascot.