Noble Mission has always lived in the shadow of his older brother Frankel but has come into his own to beat Telescope by nine lengths in the Group Three Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown.
The five-year-old is trained by Lady Cecil, the widow of Frankel’s trainer Henry Cecil, and led all the way on the soft ground.
“It’s so good when a plan comes together,” Lady Cecil said.
“We thought there wouldn’t be any pace in the race and that he’d like the ground.
“He’s got his quirks but has been remarkably consistent and I’m sure there’s a big one in him.”
Noble Mission is entered in next week’s Jockey Club at Newmarket while the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot would be an alternative.
Sir Michael Stoute had been thwarted in aiming Telescope for last year’s Derby and while conditions might not have been ideal, it was a performance which was hard to evaluate.
“He was a bit greyhoundy last season and he’d really filled out over the winter,” Stoute said.
“I realised a few days ago that I might need a bit more time with him but we needed to get him going.”
Lady Cecil has big plans for another Frankel sibling, his half-sister Joyeuse, who has been given the green light to take her place in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday week.
Like Frankel, Joyeuse carries the colours of Khalid Abdullah and has won twice as a juvenile. She began her three-year-old season with a respectable third at Newbury.
“She had a pretty nice run. She was a bit slowly away, but she settled very well,” Abdullah’s racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said.
“They all sprinted and she made up a lot of ground in a short space of time and then probably got a bit tired.
“She’s pleased in her work since and I think, all being well, she’ll take her chance.
“I don’t think she’d mind cut in the ground.”
