IT was a splendid Ebor meeting for Yorkshireman William Haggas, who took his tally to five when Ajaya, 7/2, landed the Group 2 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Gimcrack Stakes in the hands of Graham Gibbons. The son of invincible Spirit led well before the furlong pole and stayed on strongly to beat Richard Fahey’s 25/1 outsider Ribchester with Raucous, also trained by Haggas, back in third.

The race would have been more informative had Buratino not been taken out because of the ground but there is every reason to suppose Ajaya is one of the best juveniles seen out so far. He was only just denied in the Prix Robert Papin and did everything asked of him here, picking up immediately Gibbions asked him and soon stretching clear.