IAN Williams continued his fine run and showed what a shrewd placer of a horse he is when The Grand Visir held off the late charge of the Willie Mullins-trained Buildmeupbuttercup to win the marathon handicap by a length and a quarter. Richard Kingscote judged the pace well on the winner, while Williams also saddled the third-placed finisher Time To Study.

The Grand Visir is bred in the purple, being a son of Frankel out of a half-sister to high-class performers Sagamix and Sagacity. Sold as a yearling for €750,000, he won three times for William Haggas but was afflicted by wind problems, and failed the vet after before being resold to part-owner Alex Elliott at Newmarket’s HIT Sale in November despite having won the week before on his only start for John Butler.