El Cordobes came to the fore to give William Buick his 2,000th British winner in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket.

The four-year-old was one of two Charlie Appleby-trained, Godolphin-owned horses in the race alongside Arabian Crown, and started at 7-2 with John and Thady Gosden’s Palladium the 13-8 favourite after the late withdrawal of Ghostwriter.

Buick took his time in the Group Two before knuckling down in the final three furlongs, when he switched out to find some room and kicked clear for a two-length win over Wimbledon Hawkeye for a famous success.

Buick said: “I haven’t really been counting down, I thought I was further away than what I was and then it got to single figures and obviously then you realise.

“It’s nice to do it at Newmarket.”

Buick, 36, has been Appleby’s principal rider since 2015 and has claimed four of the five British Classics, with the Oaks the only one missing.

He has won the last two renewals of the 2000 Guineas with Notable Speech and Ruling Court, doubling up in the 1000 this year on Desert Flower. He has claimed the St Leger three times and the 2018 Derby on Masar.

The only other jockeys still active to have ridden over 2,000 British winners are Joe Fanning, Jamie Spencer, Ryan Moore, Luke Morris and Jim Crowley, as well as Frankie Dettori, who is currently riding in America.

Opera Ballo ‘very exciting’ – but Appleby determined to take it slowly

Charlie Appleby will continue to take “baby steps” with Opera Ballo after the exciting colt claimed his fourth victory from five starts in the Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes.

The son of Ghaiyyath made a huge impression winning his first two starts on the all-weather at Kempton and while he disappointed behind the brilliant Field Of Gold when well fancied for the Craven Stakes in April, he bounced back with a comprehensive Listed success at Sandown the following month.

Having since sidestepped Royal Ascot, Opera Ballo was the 11-8 favourite to continue his progression on the July course – and while he was giving 3lb to some smart rivals under William Buick, the result never really looked in doubt as he cruised two and three-quarter lengths clear of Seagulls Eleven.

Appleby said: “It’s easy to say after the event, but I’d have been disappointed if he’d got beat to be honest. He’s a very exciting horse we thought a lot of in the spring and even in the winter to be fair.

“He shows signs of his father as he’s a strong-minded horse, but he’s a great galloper and has got a big engine.

“People asked why we didn’t run him over seven furlongs in the Jersey (at Royal Ascot), but if you come back in trip and try to put speed in these sort of horses you can lose them and that’s the last thing I want to do, because I think he’s actually going to end up being a 10-furlong horse.”

Considering future plans, the trainer added: “He’s a horse we’ll keep taking baby steps with.

“At home you can put him in front or put him in behind and he just does as he’s asked, but when he turns up here (on a racecourse) he’s a different beast.

“He’s got to learn to do it the right way, I think he’ll have learnt a lot today and we might take him to Deauville for a Group Three.

“I know it sounds boring and people have asked why we haven’t been a bit punchier, but I’m very much working back from next year with him and I want to nurse him along so next year we have a horse that we can go to war with.

“This horse can gallop, there’s no doubt about that, but he’s got to learn to do it the right way on the racetrack.”

Opera Ballo rounded off an excellent day’s work for Appleby and Buick, with the pair enjoying a treble on the card and Buick riding his 2,000th winner in Britain aboard El Cordobes in the feature Princess of Wales’s Stakes.

Zavateri strikes the right note in July Stakes success

Eve Johnson Houghton was brimming with delight after Zavateri maintained his unbeaten record in the Kingdom of Bahrain July Stakes.

Sent off the 18-1 outsider of six, Charlie Bishop was content to sit off the red-hot early gallop set by Comical Point before Ryan Moore joined in on Brussels.

Maximized (6-4 favourite) threatened to get involved only to drop back tamely, and as Zavateri began to pull away it was Coventry Stakes runner-up Do Or Do Not who stayed on strongly to claim second, a length away as he awaits his first win.

Johnson Houghton said: “I knew he was a good horse, I wasn’t sure if he was good enough to win after only one run because he’s obviously very inexperienced.

“In the paddock he was like, ‘oh, it’s party time!’. But in the race he’s so professional. I thought, ‘Oh god he’s going to win this’, and I never had a moment’s doubt really.”

Zavateri faced a significant rise in class after winning on his Salisbury debut, but his trainer was more than hopeful he would hold his own in the Group Two affair.

“The form of his first race hasn’t worked out at all, but he could only beat what he beat and he’s done it again,” she added.

“I wondered whether I was being a bit ballsy, but quite frankly you either come here and take on Group horses or you go to a novice where you might have to give weight to a Group horse and I thought we might as well come here and see what we’ve got.

“I love this horse – he’s got a great attitude and just wants to please. He’s a dream to train and I think he’s pretty nice to ride as well.”

Zavateri is a 33-1 shot for next year’s 2000 Guineas with Paddy Power. When asked whether he could stay the mile of next season’s first Classic, Johnson Houghton said: “He’s bred to, but as I always tell all my owners, you’ve never heard of Usain Bolt’s brother! What they’re bred to do and what they do aren’t always the same thing, but I think he definitely wants seven furlongs.

“We’ll probably run him once or twice more this year, maybe he’ll go to Goodwood at the Vintage and then we can look at the Dewhurst.”

Zavateri was a second major two-year-old winner of the year for Johnson Houghton after Havana Hurricane’s success in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Comparing the two, she added: “Havana Hurricane is a sprinter and this horse wants further, so they don’t work together – and I haven’t got enough horses to be breaking them against each other!”

Scandinavia in a different league to Bahrain Trophy rivals

Scandinavia was an emphatic winner when coming home unchallenged in the Bahrain Trophy Stakes.

Aidan O’Brien’s Justify colt was the 11-8 favourite under Ryan Moore in a small field of five, and horse and rider were happy to travel along in the slipstream of early leader Furthur.

As the race progressed he loomed up beside the front runner to take the lead three furlongs from home and from there on it was plain sailing as he prevailed by an easy eight and a half lengths.

Bookmakers were suitably impressed and cut the winner to around 6-1 from 20s for Doncaster’s St Leger in September.

Paul Smith, son of co-owner Derrick Smith, said: “He seems to have progressed nicely from Ascot and Ryan was very happy with him – he said he’s uncomplicated, he got into a lovely rhythm and we could have some fun with him over those longer distances now.

“He was out wide for a long way at Ascot but he bounced out of the race very well and really enjoyed the ground today.

“The Irish Leger and the English Leger, all those sort of races are open to him and he could be a Cup horse next year, perhaps. We can plot our way towards all those nice staying races at the end of the year now.”

The current ante-post favourite for the St Leger is stablemate and dual Derby winner Lambourn and Smith added: “There’s lots of options open and I think we’ll see how these horses get on over the festivals as after here we’ve got Goodwood and York coming up.

“He’s in the mix for all those top races.”