Almurad unlikely to run in Derby
The 11-10 favourite, trained by Michael Stoute, made hard work of his task however.
He headed the long-time leader Mukafeh, who like the former carries the colours of Hamdan Al Maktoum, but the race was far from over.
And he had to he ridden right out to the line to score by half a length and the winning owner’s racing manager Angus Gold said: “I have not even spoken to Sheikh Hamdan about it (running at Epsom), but is has got to be unlikely.
“We left him in just in case Richard came back in and said he wanted a mile and a half.”
Hills completed a quick double when bringing the Mark Tompkins-trained Astrocharm (11-1) home in front in the mile and a half Robinsons Mercedes-Benz SLK Stakes.
Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy is making the most of his chances for Godolphin while Frankie Dettori is on the injured list and he gained his first Newmarket success on Silent Hawk in the Robinsons Mercedes-Benz-S-Class Stakes.
Meanwhile, Ecomium, a best-priced 20-1 shot for the Vodafone Derby, will miss the race after suffering a minor setback.
The son of Sadler’s Wells was an impressive five-length winner of a maiden event at Newmarket last month on his first racecourse start.
Trainer Jeremy Noseda has confirmed that he will bypass the big race.
“He has a corn in his right front foot, which has come at a critical time in his preparations.”
