Top 40 winner Dragon Icon

The most interesting race on Tuesday was the one mile novice stakes at Lingfield, which was delayed due to thunder and lightening and heavy rain. As a result, there was a flag start and Top 40 entry Dragon Icon made it two out of two with a smart performance under a penalty. A well bred son of Lope De Vega, he still had plenty to do turning for home but showed a sharp turn of foot to reel in Halla Dubai close home. While the winning margin was only a neck, Roger Varian's colt won with something in hand and can only improve with experience. Unbeaten in two runs on the all-weather, he will stay ten furlongs in time and is an exciting prospect. It will be interesting to see where he heads next but it won't be long before he plying his trade in Pattern company.

Crystal Mariner is highlighted as a horse to follow in the Unraced Three Year Olds section in AOTF and Sir Michael Stoute's charge got off the mark at the second time of asking at Newcastle. Formerly owned by the Rothschild family, he was bought for 160,000gns in October last year and remained in training at Freemason Lodge. The son of Sea The Stars had shaped well on his racecourse bow at Pontefract in April and had clearly learned plenty. Well positioned by Richard Kingscote, he got first run on the highly touted debutant Lion's Pride and that proved the difference. Staying on well along the stands rail, he fended off the John and Thady Gosden trained runner-up to prevail by half a length with a further four lengths back to the third. Similar to Dragon Icon, the more racing he has, the better he will be. The first two look fair sorts.