AVIATE flew home to snatch the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes on the line – and give trainer Henry Cecil his ninth win in the prestigious contest at York Racecourse, writes Steve Carroll.

The speedy filly, ridden by Eddie Ahern, careered down the rails in the final 100 yards to take the £65,000 Group 3 race by a head.

It had looked like Gold Bubbles, saddled by Jim Bolger, would capture the prize but questions over whether Aviate would have the stamina for the one-and-a-quarter mile Epsom Oaks trial were answered in emphatic style as she motored home with a brilliant late burst.

Cecil said: “It looks as if she’ll stay (the distance in the Oaks). We don’t know if she’ll go to Epsom yet. It’s difficult to say.

“She’s a nice filly but you couldn’t see how good she was because she didn’t get a clear run.

“What they should have done was spread out to let her come through – then we’d have seen what she really was.”