KEVIN PRENDERGAST took a leaf out of his late father Paddy's book when sending out Verglas to land the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot yesterday. Prendergast senior won the race six times in 19 years but this was his, son's first success in the prestige juvenile event.

Verglas, a 9 to 1 chance, was always travelling well on the near side and stretched away in the closing stages to defeat Daylight In Dubai, with the much vaunted favourite Deadly Dudley well held in third.

Prendergast rates Verglas a better juvenile than his Nebbiolo, a winner of the Gimcrack Stakes, and Lordedaw, beaten a head by Cawston's Clown in the Coventry Stakes.

"He's a real horse. He's got plenty of speed but will stay a mile no problem," he said. "We fancied him a lot today but we didn't really know the strength of the opposition although I knew that Richard Hannon rated Deadly Dudley highly."

Verglas has the Heinz 57 Stakes at Leopardstown on August 12th as his main target and is then likely to be put away for the season before being prepared for a Guineas campaign.

Bijou d'Inde beat the best in France to capture the St James's Palace Stakes. Trained by Scot Mark Johnston, from Aberfoyle the colt defeated the English, Irish and French 2,000 Guineas winners.

Yorkshire based Johnston knew it was a mistake to bill the Group One mile event a threeway fight between the classic winners Mark Of Esteem, Spinning World and Ashkalani.

And his colt, who had finished third at Newmarket and fourth at the Curragh, proved it when overhauling the French colt Ashkalani to score by a head with 33 to 1 outsider Sorbie Tower a length back in third.

"A furlong down I was shouting at him to hold onto second, said Johnston. "What a battler. It looked like he had a stiff task but only on his Irish run. I knew he deserved a Group One win and it has all come good today.

"I won't say I lost heart after Newmarket, I was just desperately frustrated. That day at Newmarket I was convinced the Irish Guineas was as good as in the bag. But he lost it on the preparation.

Ashkalani, who failed to return the Aga Khan to the winner's enclosure in Britain for the first time in seven years, may head for Goodwood but a race on home soil like the Prix Jacques Le Marois is more likely.

Connections claimed he had hit the front too soon under Michael Kinane, replacing the suspended Gerald Mosse, but there were no complaints from Gay Kelleway who revelled in the performance of Sorbie Tower.

The meeting started to plan for Kinane as he steered the Godolphin colt clear of Restructure and Mistle Cat, leaving the injured Frankie Dettori to rue his unfortunate paddock fall.

The champion miler's crown is the target of the 10 to 11 favourite, so the Sussex Stakes, Prix Jacques Le Marois and Queen Elizabeth Stakes are part of his programme.

. Pennekamp, the 1995 2000 Guineas winner, has finally lost his protracted fitness battle and has been retired to stud. The Bering colt, who became the first horse to lower Celtic Swing's colours when edging out Peter Savill's juvenile champion by a head at Newmarket, is likely to take up stallion duties at one of Sheikh Mohammed's Irish studs.