ECONOMICS (William Haggas/Tom Marquand) swept to an impressive victory in Thursday’s Group 2 Dante Stakes at York and might be favourite for the Derby on the back of it but for being taken out of the race by his trainer at the latest forfeit stage.

The Newbury maiden winner had clearly learnt a lot from that belated debut and having travelled well on the outside of the field, he quickly put the race to bed when asked for more by Marquand, before displaying signs of greenness by hanging left when the race was won.

The son of Night of Thunder ended up winning by six lengths from favourite Ancient Wisdom (Charlie Appleby/William Buick), who brought very strong juvenile form to the table, having won both the Autumn Stakes and the Futurity last autumn.

“I couldn’t really believe it,” said the winning rider. “I thought he had so much to learn after Newbury. That was a mile and obviously going up on trip was always going to help.

“I went to follow Ryan and to be honest I lit his fuse to make sure I stayed on the same line and he was electric - he did it a hell of a lot faster than I anticipated and I had to take a bit of a tug to make sure I didn’t hit the front too soon – which I still managed to do.

“I think he’s a very talented horse, he’s still learning on the job as he just had a wander when he hit the front, but he’s exciting.”

Asked about the possibility of supplementing Economics for Epsom, Maureen Haggas, assistant trainer to husband William, poured cold water on the idea.

“He’s beautiful, but still a baby,” she told ITV. “I’m not sure he’ll stay a mile and a half; I think the more he races the more switched on he’ll become, and ten furlongs will be his best trip.

“He’s a big horse and this is just his third race; you’ve got to be switched on to go around there. It’s a big ask for any horse, and he’s an inexperienced, big baby.

The Derby is the one we all want to win – we’ve been lucky enough to win it once, [and] we’d love to win it again, but we have a very nice horse and there are a lot of other nice races to win; we need to make sure he stays a nice horse and that has to be the priority.”

‘Frustrating’ Bluestocking comes good

BLUESTOCKING (Ralph Beckett/Rossa Ryan) was frustrating to follow despite being Classic placed last term, but she ended a losing run in some style by taking the Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Middleton Fillies’ Stakes, beating market rival Free Wind (John & Thady Gosden/Kieran Shoemark) by a yawning six lengths.

Bluestocking, second favourite behind Free Wind at 5/2, tracked leader Sapphire Seas and when that rival began to falter, she eased to the front and was able to come clear with minimal urging from the saddle, while Free Wind looked rather laboured as she attempted to follow up her impressive win in the race last year.

Beckett was clearly relieved that the Juddmonte filly had finally delivered on the promise she had shown when a close second in the Irish Oaks, and when asked for his reaction to the win, replied: “It’s about time, isn’t it? She was a bridesmaid too many times last year and it’s great to get that race under our belt.”

“She has been frustrating. I said to [Juddmonte representative] Barry Mahon yesterday that I felt we’d done everything right, but you never know with her. I thought she looked well all week; saddling her I thought she could have looked better, but she’s put it all together well today on a track that really suits her.

“She ran well here in the Yorkshire Oaks last year and I was quite happy to come back even if the ground did dry out.

“Perhaps she’s just come of age today and we had all of our ducks in a row.

“She was full of confidence and Rossa rode her that way.

“We’re well entered up and we’ll work it out as we go along, I think. The Coronation Cup is a possibility, but it’s quite soon; all options are open.”

BIG Evs (Mick Appleby/Tom Marquand) booked his ticket to Royal Ascot when conceding weight successfully to his rivals in the Listed Westow Stakes.

The Norfolk Stakes and Breeders’ Cup winner was dropping down from Group 1 company for this reappearance and was sent off a warm favourite at 4/7. Marquand decided not to blaze a trail on the winner, allowing him to drop in initially but easily making ground to lead a furlong out before holding the challenge of Sommelier (Marco Botti/Oisin Murphy) by a comfortable length and a half.

The King Charles III Stakes (formerly the King’s Stand) at Royal Ascot has always been Big Evs’ main summer target and connections will be able to look forward to that date with optimism after this sighter.

“He was a bit buzzy in the stalls and fell out really,” said Mick Appleby. “But Tom gave him a great ride and he won it well in the end. He’ll come on for that run, as we didn’t have him fully primed up for this.

“We already said we’d probably miss the Temple Stakes at Haydock and go straight to Royal Ascot with him. We obviously tried the Nunthorpe with him here last year as a two-year-old and it didn’t work out, but I think we’d probably like to try again.

“Going from two to three you never really know until you get them out there, but he was still showing us the signs at home, and he’s gone and done it on the track now, so he’s still got it there. It will be the King’s Stand next, I think.”