ASK provided Sir Michael Stoute with his second success in the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup as the 2-1 favourite landed a significant blow for punters on the final afternoon of York’s three-day May meeting.

Seventeen years on from Rock Hopper’s victory, Stoute struck again in the Group Two stayers’ event as Ryan Moore forged clear in the murky conditions to strike by six lengths.

The six-year-old’s win initiated what could be a momentous double for owner Pat Fahey, whose Soul City is due to take in the Boylesports Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh next weekend.

Ask, who proved good enough to finish sixth behind Zarkava in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, was a warm order for his seasonal bow, and duly obliged with a race-winning move passing the three-furlong marker.

Smart hurdler Blue Bajan coped with the soft conditions better than his form would suggest to finish second at 33-1, with Godolphin’s Veracity just a head adrift in third.

Fahey said: ‘‘I thought the ground was going to be too soft for him and I didn’t have the confidence to back him – he always wins when I don’t back him.

‘‘Ryan said he got there too early; he put the race to bed and tired towards the finish.”