Pacemaker wins the QEII Stakes

Summoner, the Godolphin second string, sprang a 33-1 surprise in the Stg#300,000 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot this afternoon.

The four-year-old, supplemented for the Group One prize at a cost of #25,000 last Saturday to act as pacemaker, made all the running to beat his stable companion Noverre, the 2-1 favourite, by a length and a half.

Aidan O'Brien's challenger, Hawkeye, was a similar distance away in third place with his stablemate Bach fourth.

The field, reduced to eight from 11 because of the rain-softened ground, was split right across the course in the early stages with Summoner leading in the centre.

Tracked by Noverre, he moved over to the far side where the ground is sheltered by the trees before cutting back across before the home turn. It was there that jockey Richard Hills slipped the field, quickly going six lengths clear.

Bach led the chasing pack but he was soon passed by Noverre as Frankie Dettori made a desperate attemptto catch the pacemaker. Hills took a look over his shoulder inside the final furlong and could hardly believe his eyes as he still held a healthy advantage.

He pushed his mount out all the way to the line to register a comfortable, if highly-surprising success, on a horse who had been trained by Roger Charlton until this season.

A delighted Hills said: 'It`s great. I had it my own way and I had a good horse underneath me. I thought, in this ground, it`s going to be hard to come off the pace.

'My orders were to lead a steady pace, an increasing pace, and to ensure there was a steady pace so there wasn`t a false-run race.'