Both the winner and the runner-up are owned by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, but our colt was the only one of the pair with prior racecourse experience having shaped with promise on his debut at Kempton, and the little extra know-how probably told in the closing stages as he held on by three-quarters of a length under Jim Crowley.

A £250,000 yearling purchase from Doncaster, the son of Dark Angel travelled with more professionalism than he had done first time out, sitting towards the head of the main group as the Micky Hammond-trained Kavora cut-out a strong early gallop.

The long-time leader began to wilt heading into the final quarter mile and Mubhij was produced to challenge alongside the Ed Walker-trained Molls Memory as Algaffaal showed his greenness under considerate handling from Danny Tudhope.

The last-named began to get rolling late, but the bird had already flown by then with Mubhij nicely in control at the line to get off the mark and set himself up for handicaps moving forward.

Roger said: “Mubhij still looked an immature colt in the preliminaries, but he took a nice step forward from Kempton and should continue to go the right way. He’ll head for another seven-furlong novice and we’ll see what the handicapper does after that.”