The William Haggas-trained Waleefy recorded a first career success in the six furlong Aston Martin Handicap at Newmarket’s July Course on Thursday.

The Shadwell Farm owned-and-bred three-year-old boasts an esteemed pedigree, as half-sibling to top-class performers Baaeed and Hukum. Whilst his brothers showed their best form over a mile to ten furlongs, the Night Of Thunder colt appears to be finding his niche over shorter trips, with the drop back to six furlongs and addition of a first-time tongue tie sparking enough improvement to justify favouritism.

"He's a bonny little horse, obviously he is not the class of his recent brothers, but he's a late May foal and he was always going to improve," said Angus Gold, racing manager to the owners.

"He was tiny as a yearling and has grown to a good size now and he's very consistent.

"It was a bit of a gamble bringing him back to six and we weren't certain, but he always did look a sprinter and now he's got a bit more length to him. William and I had a chat and said we'll give it a go and see and interestingly Jim (Crowley) said they went very slow and then sprinted.

"It didn't go to plan and that's why Jim went early and possibly the ground was quick enough for him, he didn't look overly comfortable on it when I watched the replay there.

"He could have found his distance. He stays seven furlongs, but it's good to see he had the speed to do that over six."

Dam Aghareed, winner at Listed level in France during her short racing career, has proven to be an exceptional broodmare for the Shadwell operation. In addition to star performers Baaeed and Hukum, she is also responsible for Black Type performer Naqeeb (Nathaniel) and three-time winner Kasbaan (Dansili) from five raced foals.