A pair of earplugs came to the rescue of Bandari's frayed nerves to help him land the big race on the second day of Newmarket's July meeting yesterday.

Bandari has time and again proved himself to be a worrier on the track, often sweating up badly before the start of a big race and putting more energy into the preliminaries than the race itself.

The five-year-old, who was bought by Hamdan Al Maktoum after winning the Lingfield Derby Trial two years ago, has always had the ability.

His victory in the Group Two Princess Of Wales's cantorodds.com Stakes was the tenth of his career and his fifth in a Pattern race.

''We put the earplugs in two hours before the race and they obviously had the right effect because he was quiet as a mouse in the parade and went to post without turning a hair,'' said winning rider Richard Hills.

''I went to take them out at the start and when he heard the noise he went 'whoosh', whipped around, and I went out the back door.

''All of a sudden you could tell he was ready to go and I definitely think we ought to use them again. It was amazing.''

Bandari (12-1) dug deep to out-battle 11-8 favourite Sulamani and in the process put the smile back on trainer Mark Johnston's face.

The Middleham handler suffered the disappointment of seeing his star filly Attraction lose her unbeaten record 24 hours earlier in the Falmouth Stakes.

But Johnston's stable is never out of the winners' enclosure for long and Bandari came with a strong late surge to catch Sulamani up the hill and score by half a length.

The Frankie Dettori-ridden Sulamani had travelled well at the rear of the eight-runner field throughout but hung in the closing stages as he looked to be feeling the ground, dried out by a fierce wind blowing across the course.

High Accolade kept on to finish a further two-and-a-half lengths away in third, with the well-backed Magistretti a never-nearer fourth.

Bandari is now set to bid for the Group One success that has eluded him thus far in his career when he goes for the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot on July 24.

''I would hate him to be a nearly horse who can't find a place at stud,'' said Johnston. "He has real ability and as he has beaten good horses today. He is certainly entitled to take his chance there

''We just need that all-important Group One for him now and, hopefully, it will be this season.

''He can get very tight in the preliminaries at times and quite often we have felt he has run his race before he has got in the stalls. But he clearly has great ability.''

Runner-up Sulamani remains on course for a possible re-match with the winner at Ascot.

Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said: ''The ground was too firm, it does not suit him.

"If it was soft he would have run much better.

''He's entered in the King George with Papineau and Doyen, but we'll have to see.''

Ladbrokes took Sulamani out of their betting for the King George, but other bookmakers offer him at around the 8-1 mark.

Bandari, just 12-1 with Ladbrokes, is available at 16-1 with Coral, William Hill and Paddy Power and 20-1 with Cashmans.

Captain Hurricane, backed from 16-1 in to 10-1 on-course, landed a Betfair gamble to take the day's other Group Two contest, the TNT July Stakes.

Owned in partnership by the founders of the betting exchange, Andrew Black, Ed Wray, and the latter's brother, Jeremy, the Peter Chapple-Hyam-trained colt gave the trio their first taste of the big time as owners when coming with a late surge to collar Council Member by a short head.

''I felt he was a certainy first time out at Yarmouth and couldn't believe it when he was beaten,'' said the successful handler.

York's Gimcrack Stakes was mentioned as a possible target after the race by Chapple-Hyam.