Karl Burke’s Cuban Tiger added to the trainer’s smart crop of three-year-olds when just getting the better of Sayedaty Sadaty in the BetMGM Burradon Stakes at Newcastle.

Owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, who has moved the majority of his string to Burke’s Leyburn stables, the Havana Grey colt looked to have plenty to do on the official figures with a rating of just 87.

However, he had only had two runs, winning on his debut and just losing out to Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech last time out – and he had clearly improved for that experience.

Appleby’s unbeaten Silent Age looked a major contender but he did his chances no favours by becoming upset in the stalls and it was Oisin Murphy on Sayedaty Sadaty who tried to dictate.

Despite at one stage looking like being swallowed up, Sayedaty Sadaty gamely stuck to his task but while the favourite Orne and Silent Age dropped away, it was Clifford Lee and Cuban Tiger who challenged last and got the verdict by a neck.

Burke already has a smart three-year-old cold in Night Raider, while his Fallen Angel is strongly fancied for the 1000 Guineas.

“We were hoping he’d run really well, but you never know what you’re taking on with two-year-olds coming into their three-year-old career,” said Burke.

“The Gosden horse (Orne) looked pretty strong and the Godolphin horse (Silent Age) fluffed the start, but I knew we had the horse that was better than his rating, so I wasn’t worried about handicaps and it was just a question of how good he was.

“He loves that surface and he’s a good moving horse, I don’t think he’d want too softer ground. We’ll discuss with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid where we go next.

“He’s a lovely horse who is still green. I don’t think he needs to go further than a mile at the moment.

“We’ve got a big team of three-year-olds and some real nice stuff there, so fingers crossed they can all stay in one piece.”

On Night Raider, he added: “He came out of Southwell really well and he’s a lovely horse. You’d have to say he’s got more gears than this fella, that’s for sure.

“He’s a very good horse, whatever he does. It’s a massive step up from two Southwell novices to a 2000 Guineas, but at the moment he deserves to be in it and his future is ahead of him beyond the Guineas.

“That (racecourse gallop at the Craven meeting) is Plan A and I’ve got to discuss it with Steve (Parkin, owner). Steve is very keen not to have a run and just go for the gallop, but when Danny (Tudhope) jumped off him at Southwell, he felt he was still very green.

“For me, another race would do him the world of good, but at the moment it’s a racecourse gallop, with probably an entry in the seven-furlong conditions race and we’ll just see what that looks like.”

Room Service will attempt to deliver a tasty early-season treat to Kevin Ryan when he lines up in the BetMGM Burradon Stakes at Newcastle.

A winner of a valuable sales race at Doncaster when last seen, connections cannot help but be buoyed by the way that form has been franked by the horses in behind, with the second, fourth and fifth all scoring since and the third, Aidan O’Brien’s Johannes Brahms, already Group Two placed.

Ryan sees this Listed event as the perfect place to test out the Kodi Bear colt’s capabilities over a mile and, with him holding an entry for the Irish 2,000 Guineas, it will give a good gauge as to whether Classic dreams can begin.

“It’s a good starting point for him and he’s in good form,” said the North Yorkshire-based trainer.

“Obviously the all-weather is an unknown but he’s ready to run. The way the ground is at the moment, he likes soft ground, but I don’t really like starting them off on really deep ground, so I just thought we would have a look at Newcastle and see how he goes on that surface.

“He’s matured the way you would like to see him mature from two to three and we’re very happy with him. We’ll learn an awful lot more on Friday.”

Room Service is just 1lb below John and Thady Gosden’s Orne on official ratings, but the Horris Hill winner has to concede a 5lb penalty to his big-race rival due to landing that rearranged Group Two last autumn.

The Al Shaqab-owned Classic entrant has match fitness on his side having appeared both in Doha and when going down valiantly in Lingfield’s Spring Cup recently – and his team are hopeful his class can see him involved in the finish.

“He’s come out of his race at Lingfield really well and he ran really well from a wide draw there,” said Al Shaqab racing manager Alison Begley.

“He has to carry a penalty, but we think he has a good chance and we think the step up to a mile will help him. He ran well over a mile in Qatar, so we think returning to that distance will help and hopefully he will run well.

“He’s top rated in the race and Kevin Ryan’s is 1lb below him with us giving him 5lb because of the penalty, but having said that, Orne is a horse who is improving and he’s done little wrong in his career so far and we hope he will run a big race.”

A couple of places behind Orne at Lingfield earlier this month was Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Habrdi, who prior to that fifth-place finish had won three on the spin for the Newmarket handler.

He now returns to the mile trip he was successful over at Chelmsford on his penultimate start, with his trainer confident the colt will be sharper for his Spring Cup outing.

“He needed the run in the Spring Cup, as we always had half an eye on this race,” said Chapple-Hyam.

“He had a wide draw and was almost playing catch-up the whole time. He has come forward since then and moving back up to a mile should suit him. He is in a good spot at the moment.”

Charlie Appleby’s Dubawi gelding Silent Age has impressed in two appearances on the all-weather and now takes a step up in grade, while similar sentiments apply to Karl Burke’s Cuban Tiger, who bumped into a well-regarded stablemate of the Godolphin entrant at Kempton last month.

Burke said: “I could not be happier with him. He ran really well at Kempton, proving he gets the mile well, and this race looked the obvious next step.”

There has never been an Irish winner of this contest and Adrian Murray will try to change that when he saddles the raiding Manhattan Dreamer, who opened her account when stepping up to seven furlongs at Dundalk last time.

Andrew Balding’s Sayedaty Sadaty, Yokohama (John Butler) and David Menuisier’s Chelmsford scorer Louis Quatorze complete the field at Gosforth Park.