Delegator showed enough potential to suggest he could be a fascinating addition to the sprinting ranks as he flashed up the near-side rail in the Duke of York Blue Square Stakes.

Saeed Bin Suroor's five-year-old was sent off the 5-1 favourite for this six-furlong Group Two, despite spending the majority of his career as a miler, and he even finished second to Sea The Stars in the 2000 Guineas of 2009.

There was much to admire about his first outing since last November as he cut through the field under Frankie Dettori, scoring quite comfortably by half a length.

"We tried to tackle the mile races but he just doesn't quite get a mile, so we decided to try sprinting," said Dettori.

"There was only one winner all the way, and now he's getting older and stronger, I think the sprinting division is going to be his game.

"When I let him down, I expected a better turn of foot.

"He was just workmanlike at the end but I think we've got a bit to improve and there is something there to work with."

Royal Ascot will now be on the agenda, and Godolphin's racing manager Simon Crisford revealed: "We would like to have started the whole of last season by sprinting, but he was held up by a wart on the back of his pastern.

"It was irritating him and we didn't get to grips with it early enough and we had to do a minor surgery.

"By the time we did get him racing, there weren't any sprints to run him in and we had the Breeders' Cup Mile to consider.

"This winter he has been very inactive as well as he has a quarter-crack in his foot in America and his run was a little bit disappointing.

"The farriers have done a great job as they have had to rebuild his foot throughout the whole of the winter.

"He'll still have entries in all races from six furlongs to a mile, but he'll go for the Golden Jubilee next."

He is a best-priced 11-1 with Coral.

Plucky chestnut Regal Parade was second, with jockey Adrian Nicholls nominating the Prix Maurice de Gheest as a target.

Another making up for lost time was Pekan Star (13-2), who took the Infinity Tyre Stakes on only his third start.

"He had a problem which kept him off the track all summer and we didn't get him on the track until October when he won his maiden at Nottingham," explained Roger Varian, having his first York runner.

"He'll go up a few pounds, but hopefully we can go down the handicap route."