Prague springs a surprise in Joel Stakes at Newmarket

Bought for 10,000 guineas out of Aidan O’Brien’s yard as an unraced colt last October, the son of Galileo was a 40/1 winner on his debut for the South African-born trainer at Sandown in the spring and had since proved that effort was no fluke with three sound efforts in defeat.

The four-year-old was perhaps unfortunate not to reel in Holloway Boy after encountering a troubled passage in the Superior Mile at Haydock three weeks ago and was a 100/30 shot to gain compensation at Group Two level on the Rowley Mile.

After initially attempting to settle his mount at the rear of the four-strong field, jockey Danny Tudhope allowed Prague to stride on in front from the halfway stage and it proved an excellent decision, as he was soon bowling along in splendid isolation down the centre of the track.

Poker Face and Task Force, the 2/1 joint-favourites, mounted their challenges closer to the stands’ rail and did their best to keep tabs on the leader racing out of the dip, but Prague was not for catching and he was ultimately good value for the winning margin of just under four lengths.

Cunha said: “That was a great ride because I said to him ‘you know him, he needs to be settled’ but halfway through I thought ‘whoa what are you doing?’.

“Everyone always said to me ‘you’ve only won a Grade One in South Africa’ but I always reply that you still have to be the best horse and jockey on the day, no matter where you are in the world.

“To win this race today means absolutely everything to me.”

Paddy Power inserted Prague into their Queen Elizabeth II Stakes betting at 7/1, although he will need to be added to the race, with Charyn the 13/8 favourite for next month’s Ascot Group One.

Cunha said: “We’ll have to seriously think about supplementing him for the QEII now. We might just wait for the Lockinge (next year). He clearly goes on soft ground but the interesting thing is the jockey says he’s better on better ground, he’s just that good, he’s still improving.

“We got him for 10 grand out of Ballydoyle, he had a leg fracture but since we’ve had him we’ve never missed a day.

“He’s still a big baby, that’s the exciting thing. Danny says when he finally matures he’ll be a really nice horse.

“We’ve had lots of offers for him, even after he won his first race at Sandown by six lengths, I had six or seven phone calls but he’s not for sale unless it’s life-changing money. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse.”

Owner Amedeo Dal Pos was understandably emotional and was struggling to speak.

“We know have to think about Ascot because he is improving all the time, race by race,” he said.

“At the moment I’m so excited I can’t think!”