Lead Artist displayed a game attitude when battling to Group 1 success in the BoyleSports Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

John and Thady Gosden’s four-year-old was a 17-2 chance under Oisin Murphy, with Dancing Gemini and Rosallion the key players in the market.

The latter came home a two-and-a-quarter-length third, but Dancing Gemini fought Lead Artist all the way to the line to miss out only in the final strides as the Juddmonte-owned horse came out triumphant by a neck.

Full report to follow…

Symbol takes Carnarvon honours in style

Charlie Appleby will be reaching for the programme book after Symbol Of Honour bounced back to top form in the Highclere Castle Gin Carnarvon Stakes.

Twice a winner over six furlongs in Dubai this winter, the son of Havana Grey tried his hand up at seven furlongs on his UK return at Newmarket when he saw his momentum checked in a deep contest.

Dropped back to six furlongs and on ideal ground, he proved a cut above the opposition in the Listed event which has often served as a stepping stone for Royal Ascot’s Commonwealth Cup.

However, the gelded Symbol Of Honour is unable to run in that Group One event, with the alternative Jersey Stakes over the seven furlongs at the Royal meeting also ruled out by his handler.

“Dropping back to six furlongs has been the making of him and we saw him over six in Dubai and he won twice,” said Appleby.

“Some of these sprinters take a while to get the hang of it and he’s mentally doing well and physically doing well.

“Where we go, I’ll have to have a think, but he won’t be a Jersey Stakes type as at Newmarket we saw he didn’t handle the track, but more importantly just didn’t see the seven furlongs out.

“I had him pencilled as a Jersey horse after Dubai but William was adamant on the evidence of Newmarket to drop back to six and you saw there why. They’ve gone a good gallop and he’s a strong traveller – if anything William said he probably got there a bit too soon.

“It’s good to get him back on track and hopefully the trainer might now run him over the right trip.

“The conditions were here to suit him today and we were confident we just had the favourite to beat. We felt we had to find a bit to beat the favourite on bare evidence, but with some of these sprinters, some of them are still going the right way and thankfully he seems to be one that is.”

Eydon returns to winning form with Aston Park success

Eydon served a reminder of his class with an impressive victory in the Sky Sports Racing Aston Park Stakes.

Fourth in the 2022 2000 Guineas, the son of Olden Times has had his fair share of injury problems over subsequent seasons, with this just his sixth outing since that Classic appearance three years ago.

Sent off 16-1 in the hands of Oisin Murphy, Eydon travelled well close to the pace before surging clear for taking length-and-a-quarter success, justifying his connections’ patience and booking his ticket to a Group One assignment in France in the process.

Winning trainer Andrew Balding said: “He’s been a project – the Eydon project – and every time we felt we had him right, he has gone wrong and this is the first time we’ve had six weeks without any problems.

“He’s had so many issues at home, just lots of little things and one thing after another, and it was the same for Roger (Varian) when he had him. He showed a really high level of form for Roger, he was fourth in the Guineas and is clearly a very talented horse.

“This was always the aim and we were really keen to get him back on a sound surface and we saw the best of him today. Everyone at home has done a fabulous job to get him here in this form.

“He saw the trip out well today and I think the opportunities are there for him over a mile and a half.

“I haven’t spoken to Prince Faisal (owner) yet so I don’t want to jump the gun, but I thought something like the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud could work for him which gives us plenty of time, he’s a high-class horse so it would be great to give him a chance at the highest level again.”