Newmarket© Photo Healy Racing
Magnus Maximus (25-1) was a surprise winner of Newmarket's £100,000 Tattersalls Millions 3-Y-O Sprint.
There appeared to be no fluke about his three-quarter-length triumph at the expense of Toofi, though, as the Holy Roman Emperor colt raced prominently under Pat Dobbs and saw out the six-furlong trip well. He won on his final start as a juvenile at Kempton last October and has clearly improved from two to three.
Trainer Richard Hannon said: "That was a pleasant surprise as I thought six furlongs would be too sharp for him. We felt he wants a mile. To be fair he travelled great and never looked like getting beaten. He has won a very nice race there and we can diversify with him a bit. We will get him home first."
Provident Spirit continued the excellent form of John Gosden's yard in the Alex Scott Maiden Stakes. The 4-5 favourite settled into an early rhythm towards the stands side rail and quickened up nicely when asked to win his race.
Under hands and heels riding from William Buick, the well-bred Invincible Spirit colt won despite edging right inside the final furlong and he held the late challenge of Between Wickets by two and a quarter lengths.
Gosden said: "He was the one horse at this meeting that I thought would probably win. He had not run as a two-year-old because he picked up a very nasty sinus infection late last year. He will step up to a mile."
Mind Of Madness created a favourable impression in the Horsesource Seabuckthorn Conditions Stakes. The well-bred son of Azamour, who was making his racecourse debut, was given a typically confident ride from Jamie Spencer and quickened past three more experienced rivals to suggest the future is bright.
David Brown's newcomer ran on in stylish fashion to beat Abscent Friends by four and a half lengths.
The Nottinghamshire-based handler said of the 13-2 shot: "I thought he would win and he is very very nice. He has visited a couple of racecourses already, has got loads of speed and will go quite a lot further in time. He will go to the National Stakes at Sandown and then to Royal Ascot."
RaceBets gave Mind Of Madness an introductory quote of 10-1 for the Coventry Stakes at the Royal meeting.
