THE very consistent German gelding Potemkin showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals inside the final furlong when taking the Group 2 Qatar Prix Dollar.

Ridden by Edouardo Pedroza, the five-year-old finished a comfortable near two-length winner from Heshem with the very disappointing favourite Zarak a neck away third.

That horse came with a run up the centre of the track but could not quicken when the chips were down.

Potemkin is improving with age. Until the end of last year, he had been running in handicaps and then won a pair of Group 3 races. In July, he was raced at the highest level at Munich and made late progress to finish third.

The son of New Approach is under the care of Andreas Wohler and he commented: “He didn’t have the best of runs at Munich and then came across a very good horse at Baden-Baden.

“Potemkin is still maturing and I hope he will receive an invitation to run in the Hong Kong Cup.”

Pedroza added: “We were always well-placed and when the door opened he quickened well. I think he could win a Group 1 race one day.”

The runner-up Heshem is also hoping for a similar invitation.

The connections of Zarak had to be disappointed as the colt had previously been runner up to Almanzor in both the Prix du Jockey Club and the Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville.

Christophe Soumillon said: “We had a perfect race and I was disappointed when he didn’t quicken at the end.”

Alain de Royer-Dupre was a little puzzled but the Aga Khan’s racing and stud manager Georges Rimaud reported: “His performance was rather frustrating.”