THE centrepiece of Friday’s York card was the Chester Cup but the performance of the day, and in fact the week, was by Armory (120) who was sensational on the clock when winning the Group 2 Huxley Stakes.

Making his first appearance since finishing second in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley, Aidan O’Brien’s colt won with any amount in hand and now looks all set to record his first win at Group 1 level.

After taking a couple of furlongs to gather stride, Palavecino (109) took the field along at a swinging pace with Ryan Moore content to bide his time on Armory.

In contrast to the start of the race, the final four furlongs were rapid as the son of Galileo ran the distance just 1.04 seconds slower than the 106-BHA rated sprinter El Astronaute.

This becomes even more impressive when breaking down the final three furlongs as the splits were progressively faster and it was achieved for little more than a hands and heels ride by Moore.

The four-year-old holds entries in both the Queen Anne Stakes and the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and, irrespective of the chosen engagement, he is not one to oppose lightly.

Chester Cup

The Chester Cup went the way of the Dermot Weld-trained Falcon Eight (106) who obliged in impressive fashion giving winning rider Frankie Dettori his second victory in the race, 30 years after his first.

The lightly-raced six-year-old was tackling a handicap for the first time and, judged on his performance, he is better than a handicapper as his previous engagements have dictated.

After slightly missing the break, Dettori bustled up his partner but still found himself in the final third of the field early, which should have been a position he found impossible to overcome despite travelling strongly.

Not to be deterred by his position though, the Italian asked his mount to pick up the leaders passing the three-furlong pole, a feat he accomplished with plenty to spare in accounting for The Grand Visir (102) by two lengths. The closing sectional of 37.32 seconds was 2.58 seconds quicker that the consolation race won by Green Book (90) and compared favourably with races over the shorter middle distances.

Of those in behind, the performances of Coeur De Lion (98) and Hochfeld (100) can be upgraded as the former came from almost as far back as the winner and the latter found his path blocked when he still had plenty of running left to give.

It is likely that pair will renew rivalry in the Ascot Stakes at the Royal meeting next month where they would both command respect.