Garden Route (3g Galileo – Cloth Of Cloud, by Captain Al) built on earlier promise to run out an authoritative winner on his three-year-old return.

Placed on both his juvenile starts, the William Haggas-trained bay was sent off favourite for Monday’s Novice Stakes over a mile. Making all under Tom Marquand, he was pushed clear from two furlongs out and kept on well to score by two lengths and three quarters.

A step up in class may now be on the cards for Garden Route, who is owned by the Nagle family with Magnier, Shanahan and Kantor. The son of Galileo was bred by Barronstown Stud out of South African Group 1 winner Cloth Of Cloud.