Pierre Royal triumphed in a thrilling finish to become the first Irish-trained winner of the Cambridgeshire this century.

The four-year-old, trained by Adrian McGuinness and ridden by Mikey Sheehy, edged out Jack Channon’s Crest of Fire in a photo finish at Newmarket.

Crest of Fire had looked set for the victory after Tom Marquand steered him to the front in the closing stages, but 33-1 shot Pierre Royal snatched the win on the line.

“He’s a lovely horse to train and he’s very easy on himself,” said McGuinness.

“He travels over well and he eats and like myself can get a bit big sometimes. He just eats, sleeps and drinks.

“There’s a great bunch of lads involved in this horse and they’ve had a great time with him.”

McGuinness added the faster ground at Newmarket was key to the triumph after Pierre Royal had struggled on softer conditions in Ireland.

“We only made our minds up to come last Monday,” the trainer said.

McGuinness also praised Sheehy, who was booked only days before the race.

He said: “I’m delighted I got him and only rang his agent a couple of days ago to see if he was available as I wanted to pick someone who is lucky for me. He’s top notch.”

Altareq, trained by Jim Goldie, finished third at odds of 100-1 while favourite Gavriel was fourth.