NEWMARKET, England (AP) — Dawn Approach extended his unbeaten record by winning the 2,000 Guineas yesterday, bringing some joy for Godolphin after its involvement in a recent doping scandal that has rocked British horse racing.

The 11-8 favourite stretched clear of Toronado in the final furlong to win the first of English flat racing’s five classics by about five lengths.

It’s the third Godolphin-owned horse to win the 2,000 Guineas — a mile-long (1.6-kilometre) race for three-year-olds open to colts and fillies — after Mark Of Esteem (1996) and Island Sands (1999).

It also could be the first step on the road to redemption for Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Dubai-based operation, after one of its trainers — Mahmood al-Zarooni — was banned for eight years last week for administering anabolic steroids to 15 horses.

“I am very happy to see a good horse win the Guineas,” said Sheik Mohammed, who refused to answer a question about the ongoing investigation into his doping scandal that has tarnished his stables in Newmarket. Dawn Approach is trained in Ireland under Jim Bolger.

After winning all six of his races as a two-year-old, Dawn Approach made a perfect start to life as a three-year-old by following the pacemaker before bursting through alongside Toronado and then sprinting clear with a stunning turn of pace.

Sheik Mohammed said he is contemplating running Dawn Approach in the English Derby later this year.

The 1,000 Guineas, the second of Britain’s five classics, takes place today at the same course and over the same distance. The race is restricted to fillies and the favourite is Hot Snap, trained by Henry Cecil.