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Richard Fahey's Great State recorded a first Black Type success in the 5f Listed Westow Stakes at York on Thursday.

Richard Fahey's Great State recorded a first Black Type success in the 5f Listed Westow Stakes at York on Thursday.

Gelded before commencing his racing career, Great State made a promising start with a win during his two-race juvenile campaign. He was keen on seasonal reappearance when fourth on the all-weather at Newcastle and improved to take back-to-back handicap victories at Southwell and Thirsk.

The gelding was well-supported for the Listed contest under Oisin Murphy (standing in for Fahey's retained suspended jockey Oisin Orr) and enjoyed a straightforward passage, making up late ground to win by an easy two-and-a-quarter lengths. Karl Burke's Pillow Talk finished second with Michaela's Boy in third.

After the race, trainer Richard Fahey said, "We had a long discussion whether we kept this horse back for the sprint at Ascot [the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes] because we do like the horse and it's not very often you have a horse rated in the 90s that you think is well handicapped.

"He won't be well handicapped any longer, but I'm delighted for Sheikh Sultan.

"He's a real dude, very laid back and easy to deal with, he's a pleasure to train and I'm delighted to have him. I was a little bit worried because he'd been running on the all-weather and won on very soft ground last time and it was quick ground today, so I had the excuse ready if he did get beat.

"He's a talented horse, I'll talk to Sheikh Sultan and decide where to go."

"He's a horse that I'm sure everyone at Musley Bank is very excited about. He's an improver and he's a lovely horse.

"He probably would enjoy more juice in the ground and he'd stay a little bit further as he was on his head in the middle part of the race, but he got going when they slowed down.

"He's definitely a horse on the up."