WILLIAM Haggas turned his aim to another classic last Sunday and he maintained his outstanding recent form as Maljoom, a son of Caravaggio, landed the Group 2 Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) at Cologne.

Owned by Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, Maljoom had made his debut only two months ago at Doncaster but extended his unbeaten record to three under Stevie Donohoe.

A tilt at bigger prizes at Royal Ascot may be next for the unbeaten three-year-old after Sunday’s success as he stepped forward from Doncaster and Kempton wins.

The Caravaggio colt broke slowly before racing in midfield and looked to be caught flat-footed with the rest of the field, when Rocchigiani ridden by Bauyrzhan Murzabayev took the initiative with just over two furlongs to run and kicked clear.

It looked briefly that the Peter Schiergen-trained colt had his rivals in trouble. However, as Rocchigiani entered the final furlong, he was reeled in by the British-trained runner, who swept by in the closing stages to provide Haggas with a third win in the German equivalent of the 2000 Guineas (Dupont (2002) and Brunel (2004). Haggas also won the Group 1 Prix der Diana with Dancing Rain some years back.

“He was very green when he won at Doncaster and then he won really well at Kempton, I was really impressed with him that day.

“After that victory we decided to have a shot at this race, so it was nice that it came off. It’s a prestigious race and it means a great deal to win it.”

The victory maintained the remarkable run of form for Haggas, who in the last two weeks has claimed the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes with Baaeed, the Tattersalls Gold Cup with Alenquer, along with Group 2, Group 3 and listed successes with the likes of Lilac Road, Tiber Flow, My Astra, My Prospero and Silk Sea Road.

AT the Cappanelle in Rome last Sunday, the Group 2 139th Derby Italiano Campus Bio-Medico di Roma was won by the favourite, Ardakan, ridden by Clement Lecoeuvre for trainer Markus Klug

Owned by Darius Racing, the Gestut Rottgen-bred colt won by a neck in a field of 15.