JOCKEY Fergus Sweeney sang the praises of Chain Of Daisies after the filly landed the Group 3 Winter Hill Stakes in thrilling fashion at Windsor for Henry Candy's Wantage stables.
The four-year-old made every yard of the running before holding off 8-11 favourite Ulysses by a short head to capture the £34,026 first prize.
Candy wasn't at the track, but Sweeney said of the 15-2 chance: "She's a top filly. She really impressed me at Salisbury last time and she felt better again today."
It completed a 26-1 double for the trainer and jockey after 9-4 joint favourite Nicarra opened her account by powering home a length and three-quarters clear of Poster Girl in an extended mile fillies' handicap.
On the same card, Whatcombe trainer Paul Cole's faith in Berkshire was rewarded when the five-year-old scored his first success since October 2014 by making all the running to take the Listed Sri Lanka August Stakes by a short head from Majeed under Jim Crowley.
The son of Mount Nelson had looked a possible Classic contender as a juvenile, but has had a series of problems in the last couple of years and missed the whole of 2015 before returning at the start of the current campaign.
Cole said: "We've had a tough time with him. He's never lost his ability, but there's a lot of things that can go wrong with a big horse like him. The people at home have done a fantastic job - all credit goes to them."
Cole also struck earlier in the week when Baron Bolt romped home by three and three-quarter lengths in a seven-furlong handicap at Catterick under PJ McDonald.
Mick Channon described Opal Tiara as a "trainer's dream" after the filly gave his West Ilsley yard a Group 3 success in the Doom Bar Supreme Stakes at Goodwood on Sunday.
The three-year-old, winner of a handicap at York ten days earlier, stepped up on that effort to claim the seven-furlong contest by a neck from Convey in the hands of Oisin Murphy.
Channon said: "She's a tough filly, she always has been. She just loves racing and work. She's a trainer's dream, really."
The West Ilsley trainer also struck at the Sussex track the previous day when Tara Celeb made a winning debut in a six-furlong maiden fillies' stakes under John Egan, completing a 26-1 cross-Channel double after King Of Spades landed a claiming stakes over the same trip at Deauville with Christophe Soumillon on board.
Blewbury trainer Eve Johnson Houghton also enjoyed success at Goodwood when Spinning Pearl captured a selling stakes in the hands of Martin Dwyer.
Cool Bahamian was another winner for the Woodway stables at Newmarket when battling back gamely under Edward Greatrex to pip Reputation by a head and repeat last year's success in a six-furlong handicap.
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