THE TOURISTS have been finding the going tough at Lord’s, but over at Ascot there was a notable success for South Africa when Archipenko ran out an impressive winner of the Group Two Summer Mile.

Mike de Kock has big ambitions for the best of the horses from his South African stable and the trainer’s boldness in setting up summer camp at Newmarket was rewarded when Archipenko, an 11/1 shot, came home three-quarters of a length in front of Barshiba.

Not that De Kock had intended to be quite so bold on this occasion. For a relatively low-key Ascot meeting, sandwiched between the Newmarket July and Glorious Goodwood festivals, the feature race was a highly competitive affair. Cesare, last year’s winner, was 6/4 favourite and there was considerable interest in Godolphin’s flag-bearer Ramonti, who was returning to action after a seven-month layoff since the last of his four Group One wins in 2007.

Ramonti was sent off 2/1 second favourite but he was one of the first beaten and eventually came home fifth of the seven runners. Cesare fared better in third but he was no match for the winner.

“I owe Archipenko a lot and he’s a fantastic horse. I’m lucky and privileged to get a horse like him,” said De Kock. “I wanted to run him in a quiet Group Two and avoid all of the big guns, but this turned into one of the hottest Group Twos around. It’s nice to win with a horse like this and the hospitality has been unbelievable – everyone has bent over backwards for us.”

Archipenko finished fifth behind Ramonti in last year’s Sussex Stakes when trained by Aidan O’Brien in a disappointing campaign that yielded only one win. He has found better form as a four-year-old under De Kock’s guidance and this was his third Group-race win in as many countries this year.

Having started the season in Dubai, where he won a Group Two race, Archipenko then went on to Hong Kong to land the Group One Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in April. This was his first run since then, but fears that he might lack race fitness proved unfounded.

“What more can I ask for?” said winning jockey, Kevin Shea, who has also based himself in Newmarket for the summer. “This is great – this is something special. We thought he might’ve needed it but it was an excellent win.”

Archipenko is still in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, but De Kock favours taking him on his travels again for a crack at the Arlington Million in Chicago.

The John Smith’s Cup at York is one of the most competitive handicaps of the year, but trainer Richard Fahey has found the key to success and won for the second year in a row as 12/1 chance Flying Clarets did it the hard way from the front.