Tamarisk blasted his way to the top of the sprint rankings and at a stroke wiped away the misery of a desperate season for his trainer Roger Charlton.

The colt, reckoned to be a miler at the beginning of the year, showed blinding speed to take care of 12 rivals in Saturday's Stanley Leisure Cup at Haydock. He charged clear from the start in the hands of Tim Sprake and his powerful gallop soon had the opposition in trouble.

The 13 to 2 chance, providing jockey Tim Sprake with his first success in a Group One event, edged left in the closing stages but was still one and three-quarter lengths ahead of Bolshoi.