Hot favourite Hoh Mike may not have enjoyed the rub of the green but Strategic Prince found no trouble in running to register a comprehensive success in the TNT July Stakes at Newmarket.
Paul Cole's juvenile was ignored by many and his 16-1 price tag looked very generous after Eddie Ahern flew home by a length and three-quarters and a length-and-a-quarter from the Mark Johnston pair of Armigerent (50-1) and Dubai's Touch (33-1).
Ahern settled his mount towards the rear in the early exchanges of the six-furlong contest and the colt produced a terrific burst of speed when pulled out wide for his challenge with his run quickly sealing the race.
Cole's charge had made an impression on his debut when successful at Salisbury but a wide draw put paid to his chance in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Hoh Mike was sent off the well-backed 4-6 favourite after his luckless run when second in the same Ascot race and he again suffered a troubled passage, eventually taking seventh under Jamie Spencer.
Cole said: "He won well at Salisbury on his debut but made all, so we didn't really learn much.
"He was drawn wide at Ascot - Frankie Dettori rode him and said he was getting pushed wider and wasn't really concentrating.
"He thought that if he'd have had a better draw, he might have been placed.
"We really wanted to run him in the Coventry and there was a hiccup in the entry so we were pushed to run him in the Norfolk.
"He has got an awful lot of speed, as he showed in the Norfolk, but I didn't want to bust him so I told Eddie to give him as much chance as he could and I must say he rode a great race on him.
"If you looked at the form today, he did have a good chance. Some of the others looked a bit iffy and I couldn't see an In The Wings horse (Armigerent) winning the July Stakes and he (Strategic Prince) shouldn't have been the price he was.
"He'll definitely head for Goodwood now, either six or seven. Eddie says he is probably best at six at the moment so he will probably go for the Richmond."
Ahern believed the extra distance compared to the minimum trip at Ascot played to Strategic Prince's strengths.
"Six furlongs suits him down to the ground and he picked up really well," he said.
"He was going to run in the Coventry but for whatever reason, he ended up going to the Norfolk.
"He gave me a good feel today though and the key was the extra furlong. He was drawn well and I didn't have to make him do anything - once I took him to the outside he picked up and gave me a nice feel."
Johnston's pair belied their price tags when taking the minor honours but the result saw the pair finish in a different order with Armigerent having chased home Dubai's Touch at Pontefract last week.
Johnston said: "They both ran fantastic races and I was surprised Dubai's Touch went off at 33-1.
"He ran as I would have expected him to but Armigerent has improved significantly to finish in front of him this time.
"I don't know exactly where they will go but this was a Group Two so I will look for similar races."
