Washington Heights dug deep from the front to provide trainer Kevin Ryan with a record fifth victory in the Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes at Newmarket.

Previously successful in the Group Three contest with Hamza (2014), Astaire (2015) and the popular dual winner Brando (2017 and 2018), Ryan this year fielded a widely unconsidered 33-1 shot who had been off the track since landing a Listed event at Bro Park in September.

Prior to his Swedish success the four-year-old had been placed in a number of competitive sprint handicaps and looks set to ply his trade at Pattern level from now on judged on a fine comeback win on the Rowley Mile under a well judged ride from Tom Eaves.

Mill Stream also made a promising start to his campaign in second, beaten three-quarters of a length, as did Spycatcher who was only a short head further behind in third.

Adam Ryan, assistant to his father Kevin, said of the winner: “He was a bit of an unlucky horse last year and he bumped into Shaquille first time out giving him weight.

“The good thing about him is he is very consistent and he deserved to get his head in front in Sweden. This year was always going to be about if he could take the next step up and he has certainly done that.

“He’s such a genuine horse and if you had 100 like him it would be an easy game. He’s always going to give you 110 per cent and once his head is in front he is always going to be hard to pass.

“It’s a good starting point to the year and generally at this time of year the weather can be a bit in and out, but it’s usually all right here and it’s a nice place for these sprinters to start.

“The Duke Of York or the Greenlands Stakes in in Ireland could be the next port of call and he’s an exciting horse to look forward to.”

Cosmo Charlton, representing the winning owners, Hambleton Racing Ltd, said: “We’ve got quite a few of the syndicate here today and everyone was really excited.

“He’s done well over the winter and was impressive over in Sweden last year so we were hoping he was going to run above his odds today.

“He’s a horse who tried very hard in his races and he’s run loads of really good races for us. It was a strong Group Three today and almost a Group Two on paper and he just has a tremendous attitude and Tom just said he tries very hard for you and digs deep. I sort of knew he had won a furlong out to be honest.

“Tom has given him a great ride from the front and has got the job done and he looks like a sprinter to follow for the season.

“Kevin wins this race a lot and is a fantastic trainer of fast horses and it looks like he’s bought another really nice one for us. The owners have really bonded with him and to come here and win in Group company, hopefully there are exciting things ahead.

“He has options and he’s in the Duke Of York and the Greenlands. They have great prize-money and will be fun days out and the dream is very much alive with this horse about where he could take us in the future.”

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.

Another trip to the Breeders’ Cup is a possibility for Emaraarty Ana having returned to winning ways at Ascot on Saturday.

Kevin Ryan’s consistent speedster had been without a victory since tasting Group One glory in Haydock’s Betfair Sprint Cup in the autumn of 2021, but with cheekpieces applied and showing plenty of zest from the gate, he produced a taking performance in the hands of Neil Callan to claim the Listed Rous Stakes in good style.

The seven-year-old finished fourth in his first crack at the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in 2021 and upgraded that to second when finding just Brad Cox’s US sprint star Caravel half a length too good at Keeneland last year.

However, with confidence restored at Ascot, the Sheikh Mohammed Obaid-owned sprinter could now get the chance to make it third time lucky Stateside at Santa Anita on November 4.

“To be fair to him, although he didn’t win last year, he was second at the Breeders’ Cup and was second to Minzaal at Haydock,” explained Adam Ryan, assistant trainer to his father.

“I know people were sort of writing him off, but Neil jumped off him at York (after the Garrowby Stakes) and said he wasn’t far away from what we expect from him, just maybe in his old age he was getting a bit cute. The cheekpieces obviously did the trick.”

On the Breeders’ Cup, he added: “With a horse like him we will have to discuss things with connections and we have to take that into consideration. But he loves fast ground and showed a lot of natural speed – it looks like he’s getting a bit quicker so you would have to say that could be on the cards if everyone agrees.

“He’s dined at the top table for most of his career and we know he travels well. He ran a great race over there last year and there will be no question marks over him going, so we will have to just have a chat with connections and decide what the best plan of action is.”

Mon Na Slieve appears to have earned himself a place on Kevin Ryan’s Royal Ascot squad after making an successful start to his career in the British EBF 40th Anniversary Novice Stakes at York.

A field of seven juveniles went to post for the five-furlong contest, with Karl Burke’s unraced colt Kylian all the rage as the 11-10 favourite amidst positive pre-race chatter.

The Richard Hannon-trained Mashadi set the standard on form following a narrow defeat on his Newmarket debut 10 days ago – but while he and Kylian came to the fore, both were ultimately unable to land a glove on the impressive Mon Na Slieve.

The 190,000 guineas purchase was a 17-2 shot to provide Ryan with another win on a track where he has enjoyed plenty of success in the past and raced on the speed from flag-fall under Tom Eaves.

Mashadi emerged as his biggest threat racing inside the last of five furlongs, but Mon Na Slieve never really looked in any danger of being reeled in and had a length and three-quarters in hand at the line.

Kylian was a length and a half further behind in third.

Ryan said of the winner: “We loved him at the breeze-up so I spoke to Brendan (McDonald, owner) and said I really wanted him.

“Brendan and I go back a long time, he part-owned Amadeus Wolf and has had a few nice ones, so it’s nice to have another.

“I was pretty confident coming but I kept it low-key as you never really know with unraced two-year-olds.

“He’s so laid back and for a breezer he’s got a great mind, not that a lot don’t, the lads do a great job with them and he came highly recommended.

“He was bought to go to Ascot, he’s really sharp and he’s all five furlongs but he relaxes. He could have dropped him in but he’s so professional he was able to make it.”