Owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, Ajman King broke his duck at the fourth time of asking when accounting for Dash Of Spice by two lengths here in October and he had the same rival back in second when triumphing by half that margin today, albeit showing approximately 7lbs of improvement on weight-adjusted terms.

Breaking a touch slowly on his first start for 180 days, Ajman King was forced to sit towards the rear of the pack under Andrea Atzeni as Dash Of Spice cut out the early gallop and the ten-runner field raced in pairs until they reached Tattenham Corner.

The leaders fanned across the track on the turn for home and it briefly looked like Ajman King would be denied a clear run. However, the gaps arrived in sufficient time and Andrea always looked confident in his mount thereafter, only picking the whip up once as he forged into the lead approaching the last fifty yards before proving comfortably on top at the line.

This success secured the hat-trick for Ajman King, who landed a Doncaster handicap on his final start last season, and the son of Lope de Vega looks set to live-up to his strong-staying, late-maturing pedigree by continuing to progress with racing this season.

Roger said: "I had this race in mind for sometime for Ajman King and this ground was perfect for him. He did well to pick up from his position and I thought he won very comfortably in the end. He is nice, progressive horse who hopefully has another good pot in him, while I suspect he will develop into a stakes performeer at some stage."