Robert Havlin proved why he is a highly sought-after jockey when he won the Chasemore Farm Henry II Stakes at Sandown with Sweet William.
Following his victory in Group One with Audience in the Lockinge last weekend, the seasoned jockey continued to garner attention when he was selected to ride Ambiente Friendly in the Derby.
Before winning a duel with Caius Chorister, he was at his best when he was able to talk the John and Thady Gosden-trained Sweet William (5-2) into this two-mile Group Three event late in the race.
Ryan Moore started to pursue Metier, while Trueshan and Chesspiece also assumed a key role.
Up until Trueshan went on, the order remained almost the same, but Caius Chorister and Sweet William were moving noticeably faster behind.
Over the last furlong, that pair managed to draw away, but Sweet William emerged victorious by a hair.
For the Ascot Gold Cup, Sweet William was lowered from 33-1 to 16-1 with Coral and is now 14-1 with Betfair and Paddy Power for the two-and-a-half-mile race.
Havlin said: “He didn’t really travel for most of the race, but the further we went, the more he came on the bridle. We put a visor on him today just to switch things up and it was a reversal with Caius Chorister from last time when she pounced on me. I was able to keep an eye on everything in the race from where I was. He’s a hard horse to get there late because he’s not really got that much of a turn of foot, so I don’t know how much he’s actually had in the tank there but he’s very talented and he got the job done. I think the further he goes, the better he goes. He’s untested beyond two miles but for me, I think he’ll get two and a half miles.”