G1 performer Map Of Stars (13/2) relished the drop back in grade as he landed the Listed Wolferton Stakes under Australia-based rider James McDonald.

Aided by first-time cheekpieces, the five-year-old produced a strong burst out wide to run down Wimbledon Hawkeye (12/1) and score by half a length. Dividend (33/1) was almost two lengths further back in third.

Runner-up in the G1 Prix Ganay last season for Francis-Henri Graffard, Map Of Stars subsequently finished fourth behind Ombudsman in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes. He becomes the first French-trained winner of the Wolferton Stakes.

Graffard said: “It was fantastic. The horse travelled really relaxed and, when he’s like that, he has an amazing turn of foot. This horse has let us down a few times, but when he’s on one of his good days, he is a great horse.

“I said to Richard Brown, ‘I have a lovely Listed race in the middle of France if you want to bring him back into the winner’s enclosure,’ and he said, ‘No chance, you’re coming to Ascot.’ I think he was right!

“I am happy for James as well. It’s really nice to team up with a legendary jockey like him and he rode him perfectly. It’s lovely to have a winner, and frustrating not to have two today.

“He is a lovely horse. We have had frustrating days with him, but when he’s like that, he’s really good. The jockey rode a perfect race, exactly how I wanted. It worked out well, so I’m very pleased for the connections.”

Asked whether the cheekpieces made the difference, he said: “I am not sure. I don’t think they upset him, but I don’t know if they helped. He is just a horse you need to let do what he wants. That’s what I said to James – you need to ride him very cold to keep him happy. If you try to dictate to him, he can get upset and then he can’t accelerate. But when he’s like that, as he was today, it gave him a lot of confidence and that was it.”

McDonald said: “Map Of Stars is obviously a very good horse and was well suited by that sort of race. It worked out really well. He was very sleepy early and then came alive when I wanted him to. It’s a very special win.

“He gave me an exceptional feeling and just kept building. On his last four or five starts he hasn’t done that and has been a bit tricky, but James [Doyle] said to put the cheekpieces on and he was much better.

“It is an honour to ride under James. Wathnan buy a lot of good horses and you can see why the rides are so difficult for James to choose from because they are so evenly matched. There was nothing between them – it’s a toss of a coin most of the time. It’s nice because we’re good mates and he’s an exceptional rider.”

Richard Brown of winning owner Wathnan Racing said: “That was very exciting to watch. He gave him a great ride. I feel sorry for James [Doyle, retained jockey for Wathnan Racing], but he couldn’t leave Haatem because he’s been a legend for us the last twice. This is massive – our first winner of the meeting. We can breathe now!”

James Owen said of runner-up Wimbledon Hawkeye: “Lovely horse. For a minute there, I thought it was our first Royal Ascot winner. It was a fantastic run – and lovely to see him back into form. He has had a nice break, strengthened up a lot and come on for his debut run. I think we’ve been beaten by a good horse there, but he’s run bloody well. We can travel with him – we can do anything with him now. We’ll just see and reflect on today, whether he has one more run before he goes travelling. We will see.”

5.35pm Wolferton Stakes (Listed)

1 Map Of Stars (Wathnan Racing) Francis-Henri Graffard FR 5-9-05 James McDonald 13/2

2 Wimbledon Hawkeye (The Gredley Family) James Owen 4-9-05 Cieren Fallon 12/1

3 Dividend (Chris Stedman) Dr Richard Newland & Jamie Insole 4-9-05 Rossa Ryan 33/1

16 ran              5/1 JF Nahraan (9th) and Haatem (16th)

Francis-Henri Graffard – 3rd Royal Ascot winner

James McDonald – 6th Royal Ascot winner