Brian The Snail impresses for Richard Fahey at Pontefract

Whether Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed was a big fan of children's television show The Magic Roundabout remains unclear.

With that in mind, it would have been fun to have been a fly on the wall when trainer Richard Fahey convinced Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation to buy a horse called Brian The Snail, who won so well at Pontefract on Tuesday.

The grey colt, like his sire Zebedee, takes after a popular character in The Magic Roundabout, yet his name hardly inspires great confidence in a thoroughbred - especially a sprinter.

Happily for Fahey, his faith in Brian The Snail that led to his recent Godolphin transfer looks pretty much on the money.

The three-year-old had to give away a heck of a lot of weight in the six-furlong Racing UK Anywhere Available Now Handicap, but William Buick always had things under control.

Jule In The Crown is not a bad filly at all, but she was made to look distinctly moderate in second place as Brian The Snail (6-5 favourite) stretched his unbeaten record to three races by a length and three-quarters.

The winner will now step into Group Three company in the Pavilion Stakes at Ascot next month, after which his trainer will get a better idea if Commonwealth Cup ambitions can be realised at the Royal meeting.

Fahey said: "Coming here I thought he'd win as I thought he was well handicapped off 95, and there's not many horses you can say that about.

"I've made no secret of how much we like him so I'm delighted.

"He's a big, burly, chunky horse so we needed to get a run into him.

"He goes to Ascot now for a race for three-year-olds on May 3 (Pavilion Stakes).

"That (Commonwealth Cup) has to be on our minds as I've always felt he was that sort of horse.

"Maybe later we might (step up in trip) but he's pretty quick."

Sky Bet make Fahey's charge a 14-1 chance for Commonwealth Cup glory on June 23.

Godolphin were also on the mark earlier in the day when Above Normal won the one-mile maiden by four and a half lengths on debut.

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor hardly requires a kick-start this spring, such has been his stable's mildly excellent form, and was at it again in West Yorkshire when the three-year-old gelding whizzed clear inside the final furlong under Kevin Stott.

The jockey said of the 15-8 joint-favourite: "They didn't go much of a gallop and that probably suited him."

Everything similarly went the way of Snoano (6-1) in the feature race of the day, the £25,000 mile-and-a-quarter handicap.

It takes a good 'un to make Tim Easterby wax lyrical, yet he clearly likes this five-year-old, who could end up running in a much bigger race at York this summer.

"He's a gem of a horse," said Easterby.

"He needs a bit of dig in the ground, but if the ground was right he could be one for the John Smith's Cup."

Billy Roberts won the first race of the Pontefract season at odds of 25-1 - but his victory came as no surprise to trainer Richard Guest.

Guest's three-year-old string, which included Billy Roberts, had been afflicted by a virus last summer.

But the West Yorkshire handler is cautiously optimistic of an upswing in fortune after Connor Beasley's companion neatly accounted for Desert Ruler by half a length in division one of the one-mile handicap.

"That was expected," said Guest.

"He loved that ground and he's shown all the signs at home that he seems in much better health.

"He should go on from that."

Uncle Bernie was a 7-1 winner of the Jamaican Flight Handicap for Sarah Hollinshead and James Sullivan, keeping on strongly to account for Tuscan Gold by two lengths.