Hughes grabs Group race glory at Newmarket Richard Hughes claimed his fifth Somerville Tattersall Stakes since 2006 when bringing Maftool (7-2) with a late run to win going away at Newmarket. The Saeed bin Suroor-trained juvenile was second in the Sirenia Stakes on the Kempton all-weather last time out, but was comfortably the best in this Group Three. Markaz made a bold bid from the front and for a few strides appeared to have slipped the field but Maftool, kept wide by Hughes, lengthened nicely to win by two and a half lengths, with the favourite Mubtaghaa third, the same distance away. The winner is engaged in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster next month, and Bin Suroor said: "He's improving all the time and has done really well, even from his last race. "We'll keep our options open for him and see what the owner thinks, but he could go for a Group One, either the Dewhurst or the Racing Post Trophy. I spoke to Richard and he said seven furlongs or a mile is no problem." Barry Hills trains a couple of dozen horses for Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum and there appears to be a few gems among them, with Mohatem the latest to advertise his ability. Fifth on his debut at Doncaster, the powerful chestnut had finished a place behind Game Pie but turned around the form by beating the same rival a length as the 11-8 favourite in the NGK Spark Plugs EBF Stallions Maiden Stakes. "He didn't have a particularly hard race at Doncaster and my only worry was that it was only a fortnight ago," said Hills. "He won't run again this season, and I'd have thought he'd start off over a mile and a quarter before going a mile and a half. He has plenty of size and scope about him." Jeremy Noseda is ending the season well with Black Granite (5-1) grabbing a second consecutive win in the ebm-papst Nursery. The Newmarket trainer had taken the Listed event at Goodwood on Wednesday with stable star Grandeur, and this Cam Hardie-ridden juvenile followed up his Salisbury nursery victory by beating Prince Gagarin by two and three-quarter lengths. "He was frustrating as he was going to the races earlier in the season and behaving really badly, so gelding him has worked. I won't be going overboard, but that was a solid performance," Noseda said. David Probert stopped a fine tactical ride from James Doyle working out quite perfectly in the TurfTrax.co.uk Sectional Timing At Newmarket Handicap. Doyle and Knife Point were setting the fractions throughout the mile and a half and he was still in front as Probert and the Andrew Balding-trained Der Meister (12-1) joined him inside the final furlong. The pair fought neck-and-neck right to the line, with a short head being the decisive margin. Probert said: "He got a bit of a bump last time. He's definitely progressing, though. I always felt I was going to get there."
