Ed Bethell's Regional (5/1) wasn't for catching in Haydock's opener this afternoon as he scooted clear from his rivals to land the Sky Bet Achilles Stakes.
The progressive five-year-old arrived following a career-best victory in a competitive York handicap last month.
Last week's Epsom Dash was the topic of plenty of controversy with a handful of stalls opening slower than the remainder and such to Regional's pace out of the stalls, it was even questioned whether a similar occurrence had happened here. However, one swift look at the replay confirmed that was no such case and it was just a masterful piece of horsemanship from Callum Rodriguez as the pair flew out of the gates into an early lead.
Regional quickly found himself at the head of affairs and in all truth, Callum Rodriguez always looked comfortable as he led the majority of the group up towards the far side of the track. Frankie Dettori looked content with his position on the favourite Equilateral (3/1) as he led a smaller group of three alongside last week's favoured stand-side rail, but the pair were unable to bridge the gap and found themselves one-and-a-quarter-lengths behind the winner at the line. Michael Appleby's Raasel (6/1) finished a further length back in third.
Ryan Moore's well-fancied mount Prince Of Pillo was the major disappointment and only manage to beat one home back in ninth.
After speaking with ITV Racing's Matt Champman, jockey Callum Rodriguez said, "He was electric out the gates."
"He's really doing well this horse this year. He's improving all the time."
"Over this kind of five furlongs, any advantage you can get at the start is good and it was always pretty straightforward from my point of view."
"He's one of those typical sprinters. He's really kind of found his feet this year over five [furlongs] and if he keeps going the way he is then who knows."
