England head coach Shaun Wane believes his side left plenty of room for improvement after they kicked off their three-match autumn series with a hard-fought 22-18 win over Tonga in St Helens.

Two second-half tries from Tom Johnstone sealed victory for the hosts in their first significant international test since their World Cup semi-final defeat to Samoa at the Emirates Stadium last year.

But a late try from Tolutau Koula kept the visitors in with a chance until the final hooter and Wane admitted he expects more in the second meeting in Huddersfield next Saturday.

Wane said: “We were really good but not perfect. I’m happy we won a Test match against a team, but I do honestly know that we can improve massively on that. We did good things but not for long enough periods.”

Wane singled out Hull KR stand-off Mikey Lewis, who shone on his debut in the halves, his first surging run setting up the opening try for Toby King before the 22-year-old went all the way to touch down for England’s second before the half-hour.

“Mikey can do a lot better, there’s no question in my mind about that, and he won’t mind me saying it,” added Wane.

“I know he’s a lot more talented but he did really well today against a big, athletic team. I knew he was a running threat and once I committed to him that was it. He’s conducted himself so well and he’s a credit to his club.”

Johnstone’s quickfire double began with a brilliant, floating pass from Jack Welsby which flew over the heads of three opponents, and the Saints 22-year-old also earned praise from Wane.

“Jack is like a throwback to the eighties,” added Wane. “He just plays like he used to play at school. He’s an outstanding talent, I loved coaching him in the World Cup last year and getting back with him has been so enjoyable.”

Wane confirmed that Welsby will continue as captain next week before George Williams returns from his two-game suspension to wear the armband for the final match of the series in Leeds in a fortnight’s time.

And Wane knows his side will face a sterner test against a Tongan side stacked with NRL talent who more than matched their hosts in the first period at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

He added: “They will improve and we need to improve, no question. It’s going to be game on next Saturday because they’ve got a lot of really good players and they won’t like losing so it’s going to be full-on next week.”

Tonga’s head coach, the former St Helens boss Kristian Woolf, pronounced himself broadly satisfied but agreed that he expected his side to improve next week.

“It was a good Test match and we showed plenty of courage and gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” said Woolf.

“We’ll learn a lot and we’ll be a hell of a lot better next week. But lot of these guys haven’t played for six or seven weeks and that affected them.”

Gevrey bounced back from Kerry National disappointment to lift the JT McNamara Ladbrokes Munster National at Limerick.

Having previously plundered the €100,000 feature with dual Grand National hero Tiger Roll in 2016 and Aforementioned in 2020, Gordon Elliott appeared intent on adding to his tally as he saddled eight of the 12 runners to go to post for the latest running of the three-mile contest.

Gevrey was among the leading contenders for last month’s Kerry National at Listowel, but was pulled up after making a bad mistake three fences from the finish.

The seven-year-old was a 6-1 chance to redeem himself in the hands of Ricky Doyle and did just that, knuckling down from the final fence to see off Largy Debut by two and a quarter lengths.

Coral cut Gevrey to 25-1 from 40-1 for the Grand National at Aintree in April.

Elliott, who also saddled the third placed Coko Beach, has been in New York, where he trained three winners on the undercard of the American Grand National at Far Hills on Saturday.

His assistant Lisa O’Neill said: “This is fantastic, we had a great day yesterday and the horses are running well.

“Gevrey always looked like there was a big pot in him and it is great for him to fulfil his potential. He has bags of stamina, he loves that ground and Ricky gave him a great ride.

“Gordon came back on a flight into Dublin this morning along with Jack (Kennedy).”

Doyle rode the winner of the Kerry National in the shape of Desertmore House, who only made it into the race when Elliott withdrew two of his runners.

He said: “Thanks to Gordon for putting me on the horse and it was because of him that I ended up getting into the Kerry National as a second reserve last month. To be able to repay him back is great.

“That’s my first winner for Gordon so it’s not a bad one to get. I’ve been going into Gordon’s for the past two seasons and while I was getting plenty opportunities, I didn’t get much luck previously.

“This game is a big roundabout and you have to keep all doors open and I enjoy going to Gordon’s where it’s good craic and I ride some good horses. They are fun mornings and to ride a winner like this is a big bonus.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his players for meeting their Tynecastle challenge with some “wonderful football” in a 4-1 win over Hearts.

The cinch Premiership leaders restored their seven-point lead with a largely dominant display in front of 576 of their own fans in a reduced allocation and more than 17,000 Hearts supporters.

Matt O’Riley volleyed his sixth goal of the season inside four minutes and Celtic remained in control. Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi netted before the 51st minute and Reo Hatate hit the post with a penalty.

Lawrence Shankland pulled one back in the 64th minute but substitute Tomoki Iwata fired his first goal for Celtic to kill off any slim hopes of a comeback.

Rodgers said: “It was important that we started the game well, and try to bring an energy and speed to the game which would make it difficult for Hearts, because I have been here enough times to know that if you don’t make a good start here it can be a challenge.

“But the players played some wonderful football and worked ever so hard.”

Celtic have now won six consecutive league matches and appear to be finding more fluidity in their play.

Rodgers said: “It’s a constant evolution, there’s not a destination to where we want to go, it’s just continual improvement and finding levels and the big thing is consistency.

“It’s obviously a very difficult ground to come to but I love challenges like this, coming to really hostile environments because it’s an opportunity for you to show your value as a team, dealing with difficult circumstances, and the players dealt with it ever so well.

“The only criticism is we could have scored more goals and managed the ball a bit better after we scored the fourth goal, so we didn’t have to run so much.

“But overall, after an international break, where a lot of these guys were a wee bit heavy-legged towards the end, a lot of travel, what they gave the game was absolutely brilliant.”

Hearts manager Steven Naismith bemoaned his side’s start and the way they allowed Celtic chances.

Naismith started with a positive line-up with Kenneth Vargas told to run beyond Shankland and Alan Forrest and Alex Lowry supporting the front players. But their chances when undermined when O’Riley ran away from marker Calem Nieuwenhof and volleyed home Luis Palma’s lofted pass.

“We gave up really sloppy goals,” said Naismith, whose team let slip a two-goal lead against Hibernian in their previous match.

“That’s the last two games that the goals we conceded are not at the level where we should be at and want to be at. How sloppy they were and when we concede them is mental.

“It doesn’t give you a chance to get into the game when you lose a goal after three minutes. And that was the theme throughout the game, the goals are avoidable.

“Our intensity when we are pressing and closing down wasn’t good enough and in the game there are split-seconds when players are making decisions and ultimately they are going to decide if it’s a good action or bad action. Every goal we picked the wrong action.”

Deshaun Watson will return for the Cleveland Browns for their Week 7 game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Watson missed Cleveland's last two games because of a strained rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder.

The three-time Pro Bowl selection was injured in a 27-3 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 3, and had warmed up prior to the Browns' Week 4 game against the Baltimore Ravens, but was ultimately ruled out.

Cleveland then hoped he'd be able to return from its Week 5 bye, but he remained sidelined for last Sunday's surprising 19-17 victory over the previously unbeaten San Francisco 49ers. P.J. Walker started last week, but didn't have much success, throwing for 192 yards and two interceptions.

Watson had his best game of the season in the game he was injured, throwing for 289 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions after throwing two TD passes and two picks in Cleveland's first two games of the season.

The Browns enter Week 7 with a 3-2 record, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for second place in the AFC North, just behind the 4-2 Ravens.

Cleveland will also have Kareem Hunt available at Indianapolis after the running back was listed as questionable with a thigh injury.

Scottish Champion Hurdle hero Rubaud made a successful start to his campaign with a front-running victory in the Trustatrader Approved And Reviewed Trades People Hurdle at Kempton.

The five-year-old had won four of his seven previous starts for champion trainer Paul Nicholls, including Grade Two triumphs in the Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle at this track in February and on his most recent outing at Ayr in April.

With Harry Cobden in the saddle, Rubaud was sent off at 2-1 for his reappearance and proceeded to lead his rivals a merry dance from flag-fall on his way to a near three-length victory.

Too Friendly was best of the rest in second, with 13-8 favourite First Street third and Alan King’s popular veteran Sceau Royal – seeking a third straight win in this Listed event – back in fourth.

Nicholls said of the winner: “I thought he would improve (for the run), but to compete at this sort of level he had to improve as at the weights he had a tough old task from last year, but he has gone and done that.

“I thought beforehand he looked big enough for his first run of the season so he will improve. He will now go to Wincanton in three weeks’ time for the Elite Hurdle. That was always the plan to come here and then go to Wincanton as it suits him to go right-handed.”

Looking further down the line, Rubaud could return to Kempton on Boxing Day for a potential clash with the mighty Constitution Hill.

Nicholls added: “We will probably run him in the Christmas Hurdle as someone has got to finish second to Nicky’s (Henderson) horse, and it is good prize-money.

“We will stay hurdling and go chasing next autumn as he is only five. He is a good level hurdler and we can choose our races with him and then go chasing next autumn.

“The two Grade Two races, the one in a few weeks, and the one in February (Kingwell Hurdle) will suit him quite well.”

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk accepts they were lucky not to have Ibrahima Konate sent off in the 2-0 Merseyside derby win over 10-man Everton.

Mohamed Salah scored twice late in the second half after Ashley Young was dismissed for a second bookable offence just before the interval but the hosts were fortunate referee Craig Pawson did not deem the already-cautioned Konate’s tackle on substitute Beto to be worthy of another yellow.

Manager Jurgen Klopp’s decision to immediately substitute the France international to avoid a fifth red card of the campaign was almost an admission of guilt and Van Dijk believes they may have finally had some fortune with the officiating after a number of decisions going against them this season.

“Definitely. He (Pawson) could have given it, he didn’t give it. Bit of luck for us. So what can I say? Nothing else,” said the Netherlands captain, who has suffered personally already with a red card at Newcastle in August.

Liverpool managed to have Alexis MacAllister’s dismissal at home to Bournemouth overturned on appeal but have seen Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones sent off in the controversial defeat at Tottenham during which VAR officials made a huge error in disallowing Luis Diaz’s perfectly-good opening goal.

For a time it appeared the club were engaged in a running battle with Premier Game Match Officials Ltd over the incidents in that game, which has led to a lot of questions being asked about refereeing standards and some of the decisions being made generally.

In particular the threshold for yellow cards appears to be lower this term in relation to time-wasting and complaining.

Van Dijk said the players were trying to steer clear of allowing that to spill out onto the pitch.

During the win over Everton there were a couple of occasions, such as for Young’s second caution and during the wait for VAR to overturn Pawson’s decision not to award a handball against Michael Keane, when the Liverpool captain could be seen ushering his team-mates away from the official.

“I think tackles and stuff that’s for the referees to judge,” said the Dutchman.

“When there is a decision we wanted to stay away from the referee and to make sure we don’t get yellow cards for shouting or saying, ‘Ref, yellow for this’.

“That’s something we have influence on and something we should stay away from. We did that very well, especially with the circumstances.”

While Young’s dismissal made Everton’s task more difficult they were on the back foot for the entire match after their only shot on target came in the opening minute.

A solid defensive effort plus some poor execution in the final third kept the game goalless until Keane’s handball allowed Salah to score his 200th career league goal from the spot, adding his second from a rapid breakaway from Darwin Nunez deep into added time.

“It was the game we expected. The red card changed it a little bit but we had our game plan, we had to be very patient,” added Van Dijk.

“In these games when you score the 1-0 it changes the whole dynamic of the game.”

A fourth successive home win maintained Liverpool’s position in the top four and only a second Premier League clean sheet was another boost.

“Obviously we are still at the beginning of the season but there are very positive signs, very pleased we kept a clean sheet, won quite comfortably, didn’t give many chances away,” said Van Dijk.

“We shouldn’t panic anyways, we have the quality that whatever happens in the game, 1-0 down or in the last couple of minutes still 0-0, chasing for the winner, we have to be calm.

“That’s a sign of a great team because we have players that can make a difference.”

Tom Johnstone’s second-half double sealed a rugged 22-18 win for England in the first of their three-match autumn Test series against Tonga in St Helens.

The Catalans Dragons winger had been almost anonymous in the first half but pounced on a pair of chances – the first a sublime floated pass from captain Jack Welsby – as the hosts pulled clear in the second period.

An impressive debut from Hull KR stand-off Mikey Lewis, who made then scored one before the break, also contributed to an encouraging afternoon for Shaun Wane’s men who were still forced to live on their nerves in the final stages.

A late try from Tolutau Koula threatened to set up a grandstand finish but England held on for the win in what was their first serious test since last year’s heartbreaking World Cup semi-final exit.

Tonga, boasting a side bristling with NRL talent, had themselves been looking to recover from a disappointing World Cup and deservedly reached the half-time hooter all-square at 12-12.

But it was the hosts who had made the first move and it took Lewis just eight minutes of his international bow to make an impact as his superb break set up a move that swung left through Victor Radley for Toby King to trot over on the left.

Harry Smith kicked England six clear but Tonga fought back after capitalising on a penalty for a ball steal, Saints’ Will Hopoate providing the decisive pass in a move that sent Wests Tigers’ Starford To’a in on the right edge.

Tonga went in front in the 25th minute when the second of their England-based starters, Huddersfield’s Tui Lolohea, delivered a neat kick for Tyson Frizell, who started his international career with Wales over a decade ago, to dart onto.

Isaiya Katoa’s first successful conversion lifted Tonga, backed by a boisterous band of fans behind the posts, into a four-point lead, before superb solo effort from Lewis, who wriggled through an imposing Tongan rearguard, levelled once again.

Harry Smith curled over the conversion to nudge England in front and Katoa responded with a penalty in front of the posts just before the half-time hooter.

Tonga were clearly growing in confidence, evidenced by the lively Keaon Koloamatangi, who produced an audacious offload to find space for Will Penisini, then bulled inches from the England where he was stopped by a timely Harry Smith tackle.

As the action warmed up, Johnstone’s hopes of a breakthrough were brutally stopped by Hopoate, then the action swung to the other end where To’a was ushered out of play as the visitors threatened again.

Welsby’s brilliance thrust England back in front after 55 minutes when he floated a perfectly-judged pass above the heads of three Tongan players to gift Johnstone the simplest of chances to get off the mark.

And a swift second from the Catalans man, when he pounced to intercept after a fumble by Penisini on the Tongan 40, left the fleet-footed Catalans star to race in under the posts from where’s Smith’s simplest conversion extended England’s lead to 22-12.

Tom Burgess was adjudged to have been held up over the line as England looked to finish the contest off but Tonga set up an anxious last two minutes when Tolutau Koula went over on the left, as if to serve as a timely reminder of two further bruising challenges to come.

Charlie Longsdon’s Rare Edition is due to start his chasing career when the ground conditions allow.

The six-year-old was a three-time winner last season, taking a trio of novice hurdles by sizeable margins before finishing second in the Listed Sidney Banks at Huntingdon.

He was pulled up in the Supreme at the Cheltenham Festival and then finished down the field in the Top Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.

However, a transition to chasing has since been afoot, and the gelding will make a debut over fences when the right race and the right conditions come up.

“I just don’t want to see him on very soft ground, he’s ready to go but we’re just trying to find the right race for him,” Longsdon said.

“He’ll be going over fences for the first time, so we’re just holding out to try to find the right race.

“He’s been very good, we’ve been very happy with him and we’re looking forward to getting going, to be honest.

“We’ll start out at two miles, in the future we might want to step him up but for the minute we’ll very much be keeping him at two.”

Longsdon has another chaser to follow in Guetapan Collonges, a true stayer who took two contests last term and performed with credit over marathon trips in both the Classic Chase at Warwick and Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter.

The latter two races will be on the agenda again this season after the seven-year-old made a winning start to the term at Carlisle on Thursday.

“It’s a good starting point, then we’ll probably go and look for some of the nice staying chases as the season goes on,” the trainer said.

“There’s Haydock in November and December and there are probably quite a lot of other nice valuable chases in the coming months.

“I can easily see him going back to Warwick for the Classic Chase and going for the Midlands National, all those decent staying chases, he’ll have entries for them all.”

Matt O’Riley scored his sixth cinch Premiership goal of the season to send Celtic on their way to a comfortable 4-1 win over Hearts.

O’Riley volleyed home brilliantly early on and Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi added further goals as Celtic thoroughly dominated for the first hour at Tynecastle.

Lawrence Shankland pulled a goal back but substitute Tomoki Iwata hit his first goal for Celtic to finish the hosts off in the 81st minute.

Reo Hatate missed a penalty in what was otherwise an impressive performance from the Celtic midfielder.

Hearts were looking to build on two wins and a draw in their previous three games. But an unchanged Celtic side restored their seven-point lead at the top of the table 24 hours after Philippe Clement enjoyed a 4-0 win over Hibernian in his first match as Rangers manager.

Hearts had more than halved Celtic’s usual allocation to 576 fans, many of whom displayed Palestine flags before kick-off, to allow more home supporters to attend. However, the section nearest the visiting support in the Roseburn Stand was virtually empty and the 17,608 crowd was comfortably Hearts’ lowest in the league this season.

The atmosphere was punctured inside four minutes as O’Riley ran off marker Calem Nieuwenhof and watched Luis Palma’s lofted pass drop over his shoulder before volleying into the far corner.

Hearts rallied briefly. Joe Hart pushed a Kenneth Vargas strike past his near post and Alex Cochrane sent a dangerous ball across the face of the Celtic goal.

Celtic were largely in control and Zander Clark saved well from Maeda before the Japan attacker doubled the lead midway through the half. Nieuwenhof was again at fault, gifting possession to Celtic not long before Hatate played a one-two with O’Riley to get beyond the home defence and drill a cross which Maeda bundled home from close range.

Celtic remained well on top and Hatate hit the post from the spot in the first minute of the second half after Cochrane had been harshly penalised by Nick Walsh when Furuhashi got his body in front of the left-back and went down.

Hatate atoned for his miss in the 51st minute with a wonderful flick which sent Palma racing down the left flank. Celtic players were queuing up to meet the Honduran winger’s low cross and Furuhashi swept the ball high into the net.

Hatate soon came close himself but Hearts improved after Beni Baningime and Yutaro Oda replaced Nieuwenhof and Alex Lowry, who had both struggled.

Shankland forced a decent parry from Hart just before curling in off the post in the 64th minute after Maeda had gifted him possession 20 yards from goal.

Shankland and Alan Forrest threatened as Hearts continued to respond but Iwata sparked a mass exodus of Hearts fans when he fired in off the bar from 18 yards after Clark had denied another Hoops substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu.

Clark made an excellent stop from Oh to spare the home fans further pain and the Celtic support saluted manager Brendan Rodgers in song in stoppage time.

Mutasarref came home best to provide trainer Ger Lyons with a fourth win in the last five runnings of the Bahrain Turf Club Knockaire Stakes at Leopardstown.

The County Meath handler landed the Listed prize with Psychedelic Funk in 2019, Masen in 2021 and Power Under Me 12 months ago.

With Power Under Me declared a non-runner this time around, 8-1 shot Mutasarref was the stable’s representative and the five-year-old picked up well when the gap came to defeat Honey Girl by a neck in the hands of Colin Keane.

The front-running 7-4 favourite Cairo, making his first appearance since filling the runner-up spot behind esteemed stablemate Paddington in the Irish 2,000 Guineas in May, finished third.

“I genuinely thought I was only running him because Eleanora (Kennedy, owner) was over for a do at the weekend,” Lyons said of the winner.

“He’s been on the wane all year. Colin said he’s just a class horse and the ease in the ground helps him as he’s had injuries and it helps his old bones.

“He’s been a very lucky horse for us since we got him. I thought we were on the road to dropping him down the handicap, but that’s undone all that. You don’t mind when they win.

“They went no gallop and it fell into his hands. On his day he’s a good horse.”

Aidan O’Brien and Seamie Heffernan teamed up to land the Thomas’s Of Foxrock “Jim And Kathleen Murphy” Memorial Trigo Stakes with 9-2 chance Boogie Woogie.

The Naas maiden winner had failed to trouble the judge in her last three starts in Group-race company and made the most of having her sights lowered in this Listed event.

The daughter of Dubawi quickened up smartly to take a couple of lengths out of the field halfway up the home straight and had enough in the tank at the finish to repel Sunchart by three-quarters of a length.

Stable representative Chris Armstrong, said: “She’s a filly that has promised a lot all year but things just haven’t gone right for her at times. She’s run some good races in Group races and it’s great to get the Listed win now.

“She’s a filly with a lot of ability. Seamie said she didn’t handle the ground but her class got her through.

“There might be a Group Three or something left for her, but we’ll see how we go.”

Danny Care hopes a heartbreaking defeat by South Africa in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final has won over any England fans who had grown disillusioned with the team.

England went out on their shields after the Springboks needed a last-gasp penalty from Handre Pollard to snatch victory having trailed for 75 minute of a thunderous showdown at the Stade de France.

As Owen Farrell orchestrated a wet weather masterclass that rattled the world champions, the discontent generated by poor recent Six Nations campaigns, the Eddie Jones era limping on for too long and August’s alarming collapse in form faded away.

And although the distant outsiders were unable to complete their unlikely mission of securing a place in next Saturday’s final against New Zealand, head coach Steve Borthwick should begin rebuilding his side amid a groundswell of support.

Booing is a sound heard frequently at England games in recent times, particularly at Twickenham, but Care views the progress made in France under Borthwick’s guidance as a cause to rally around.

“There was a lot of stuff said about us before and hopefully we’ve changed some perceptions, maybe got people believing in us again,” the Harlequins scrum-half said.

“Before the tournament, we understand that because of our performances people were doubting us a little bit. But then things clicked into gear a bit when we got over to France.

“We’ve shown stuff that fans can hopefully get behind and be proud of. The support we’ve had over here and back home has been amazing. This team will go on to bigger and better things, I’m sure of it.”

England led by nine points until RG Snyman went over in the 70th minute, but the tide had already begun turning as South Africa’s ‘Bomb Squad’ forced four scrum penalties.

“It was tough in that changing room. Unfortunately great effort doesn’t get you over the line sometimes,” said the 36-year-old Care, who revealed he will remain available for Test selection after the World Cup.

“I was sat in the bath with Maro Itoje and we were saying how sport can be cruel. It’s why we love it so much, it’s on a knife edge so often. There’s one happy changing room, one sad one.

“For me personally, when time is running out on your international career it’s tough to take, but I’m incredibly proud to be part of this team.”

England have one final assignment before departing France in the shape of Friday’s bronze final, customarily an unloved fixture in the World Cup schedule. But Care insists third place is a prize worth winning.

“We’d love to have been in the big dance but we’re not. The next best thing you can do is to finish third and try to make more people back home proud of this England team,” Care said.

“We’ll dust ourselves off pretty quick. Losing to South Africa is going to be harsh and tough to take for a couple of days but that’s sport – you’ve got to bounce back.”

Sussex-based handler David Menuisier enjoyed a happy homecoming as Sunway upset highly-regarded French juvenile Alcantor in the Group One Criterium International at Saint-Cloud.

Oisin Murphy made good use of Sunway throughout the mile contest and forged ahead of Aidan O’Brien’s front-runner Navy Seal two furlongs out.

Andre Fabre’s odds-on favourite Alcantor and Mickael Barzalona threw down a strong challenge in the latter stages, but Murphy had left a bit up his sleeve and the 43-10 chance galloped on strongly up the favoured stands side.

French-born Menuisier, who began his career as assistant to Criquette Head-Maarek in Chantilly, tasted success at the top level with Wonderful Tonight at ParisLongchamp and on British Champions Day at Ascot three years ago and was delighted to enjoy another big win.

“Everything went according to plan,” said the trainer. “We wanted him to be up there in second or third, Oisin was able to give him a breather turning for home and then when he asked him to go, he really kicked on.”

Sunway impressed when making a winning debut at Sandown and bounced back from a below-par effort in a hot race at Ascot to split Iberian and subsequent Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere scorer Rosallion in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.

“He’s a very good horse, he ran well in the Champagne and Oisin really struggled to pull him up after the line that day, so we knew he would stay on well.

“It’s fantastic to have another Group One win and I’m also grateful and so happy for his breeder Guy Pariente, who has supported us and given us a real boost.

“One thing at a time, so we’ll enjoy this victory, but we can now go into the winter dreaming about what might happen next season.”

The son of Galiway, who is co-owned by Pariente, Thomas Lines and Qatar Racing, was cut to as short as 14-1 from 40-1 with Paddy Power for next year’s Qipco 2000 Guineas and introduced into their Derby betting at 33-1.

Winning jockey Murphy told Sky Sports Racing: “He was very relaxed and he’s trained really well into this.

“He won on debut at Sandown, disappointed at Ascot, I don’t know what went wrong, nothing came to light, then he freshened up and ran very well at Doncaster over a trip short of his best.

“Today, he was perfect. I was quietly confident and it’s great because Guy Pariente bred him, he owned the mare and the stallion, Sheikh Fahad and Qatar Racing bought into the horse and Thomas Lines is also involved.

“And it’s also great for David Menuisier, who thought he was very good from early on and today he was brilliant.

“I had a high opinion of him and obviously recommended him plenty and was glad he was able to do that. They have to have the mind to do that and he most certainly does.

“He has a bright future. The rail helped but I’ve no doubt I was on the best horse and the runner-up is a good horse as well.

“He’ll stay further, he’s a brother of (Champion Stakes winner) Sealiway, whose distance was probably 10 furlongs, and I’ve no doubt this fellow will go a furlong or two more.”