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Montassib stayed on strongly from off the pace to give William Haggas his first success in the Group 1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday.
A winner of the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle on his last start in June, Montassib was sent off a relatively unfancied 25/1 on his first outing at Group 1 level.
However, under a confident Cieren Fallon ride, Montassib weaved his way through rivals to hit the front inside the final furlong. James Fanshawe's progressive sprinter Blue For You went with him all the way to the line, but William Haggas' charge stuck his neck out bravely in the closing stages to prevail by a head.
Unequal Love stayed on well to finish third, ensuring it would be a one-three for the Yorkshire-born handler.
"What a performance, he's a horse you have to have confidence in and take your time. He's done nothing but improve and I'm very lucky to keep on him," said the winning rider on ITV Racing.
"To ride a Group 1 for Mr Haggas and Maureen (Haggas), I wouldn't be in the position I'm in today without them."
It was a first success in the contest for Haggas, who admitted he was surprised by the performance of the winner.
He told ITV Racing: "I thought Unequal Love might run well as she's such a genuine filly, but I thought the ground would be too quick for Montassib. I also thought all the action would be on the stands rail.
"Now we have found his right trip, I've been running him over seven furlongs and a mile before. He's pretty effective at six furlongs.
"I don't like beating James at all because he's my mate and we see each other every morning on the gallops, but we're delighted to win.
"Cieren is doing really well, he's had a couple of injuries which has been upsetting for him and annoying for us, but he's riding with lots of confidence and gets a tune out of this horse, which is terrific."
The winner was cut to 6/1 (from 14s) for the British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot in October and Haggas is now keen to send his contender straight to Berkshire.
He added: "We were going to go to Ireland for a warm-up for Ascot, but I guess it will be straight there (Champions Day) now.
"That six furlongs there if we get the soft ground should suit him well.
"I'm thrilled to bits, didn't expect that at all and I can't tell you how pleased I am."
On the performance of Unequal Love, he said: "I don't think she wants it too soft, I don't know whether we'll keep her next year but she's definitely a Group 1 filly. She ran a fantastic race today."
