THE flat season opened at the Esher course on Friday with the Group 2 bet365 mile attracting a small but select field starring Royal Ascot winner Palace Pier (121).

As it turned out the race proved little more than an exercise canter for Frankie Dettori’s mount, as the son of Kingman ran out an eight-length winner. John Gosden reported that his original plan was to go straight to the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on May 15th but chose to run at the Esher venue as the ground would be in his favour.

The Group 3 Classic Trial went the way of the outsider of the field in Alenquer (115) at 25/1, his odds not just belying his chances but also his performance on the clock.

The pace was strong from the outset with William Buick happy to let Yibir (114) have his head in front with Tom Marquand, content to race handily on the winner. As the runners passed the two-furlong marker the pair had a handy break on the field with only Adayar (114+) finishing with any purpose from the rear.

Creditable

Given the overall time figure achieved, the finishing split for the final three furlongs was a creditable 38.15 seconds, compared to Palace Pier’s 37.22. The William Haggas-trained colt was all out at the finish, demonstrated by his tendency to lean towards the rail, a trait Marquand corrected on a couple of occasions.

The apparent Charlie Appleby second string Adayar emerged with the most potential from the race and will thrive over an extra distance of ground based on this showing. The son of Frankel finished off in a most impressive 37.95 seconds under considerate handling from rider James Doyle (was reported to have lost his right hind shoe).

Earlier on the card, Naamoos (110) impressed with his closing sectionals. Quick to stride from the mile start he never really looked vulnerable at any stage despite the challenge of Rifleman who proceeded to violently swerve left with a furlong to run, unceremoniously unshipping Ryan Moore in the process.

It was a trademark performance from a Mark Johnston horse, not only in its simplicity from the front but, in posting a 36.80 finishing split, the son of Wootton Bassett showed he is no ordinary front-runner.

A step up to listed class awaits the three-year-old where his style of racing will no doubt allow him to dominate in similar fashion.