In the last 20 years or so we’ve grown used to seeing German horses win many of the world’s top middle distance races despite the fact there are only about a quarter as many German racehorses as British. Now it looks like a country that has just a third of Germany’s racehorses could be on the verge of producing a British classic winner.

The top Spanish horse Noozhoh Canarias (38) has just romped home in a listed race over seven furlongs on his seasonal debut at La Zarzuela.

Spain has already produced Equiano who won the King’s Stand Stakes over five furlongs and Bannaby who won the Prix du Cadran over two and a half miles. I suspect that Noozhoh Canarias is going to prove more successful than either of those two Group 1 winners. He won impressively from a good field in fast time at La Zarzuela despite running on ground that his trainer and stride pattern say was unsuitably soft.

Last year Noozhoh Canarias suffered his only defeat in five starts in the Group 1 Jean-Luc Lagardere when he took off like a bat out of hell, running slightly faster over the first half mile than they went in the Prix de la Foret, where the early gallop was by no means slow. He fought back hard when headed and only went under by three quarters of a length despite stumbling after putting his foot in a hole 100 yards from the line.

This time around Noozhoh Canarias was relaxed in the lead and then accelerated. He took the field along at a good pace and then quickened up turning into the two and a half furlong home straight, immediately having all his rivals in trouble as he blasted seven lengths clear. Despite the soft ground, he clocked just 30.08 seconds for the last 500 metres, that’s 12.03 seconds a furlong. And he would have come home a bit faster but for being eased in the last few strides which caused him to slow down in the last half furlong and run it in 6.24 seconds.

The five-length runner up was the unbeaten Arkaitz who had hosed up in his two previous starts, earning an official rating only 13lb lower than Noozhoh Canarias.

Last year, after watching him tear off so fast in France, I concluded that Noozhoh Canarias was a sprinter. That now looks to be wrong. He’s a pretty tall, long striding sort whose dam won three times over 10 and 11 furlongs (he’s her first foal). Indeed his trainer explained that the main reason he normally front runs is to allow him to use his long stride. (The other reason is that he fights for his head if restrained). Noozhoh Canarias has the physique of a miler and he was not stopping at the end of a fast seven furlongs here and took an awfully long time to pull up.

GREAT ODDS

If a horse had put up a Guineas trial this good in Britain or Ireland he would be vying for favouritism in the ante-post market but because the race was in Spain, you can still get 25/1, even 33/1 about Noozhoh Canarias winning at Newmarket. I like those odds.