French handler Stephane Wattel enjoyed his first winner at Glorious Goodwood and provided Wathnan Racing with their first success of the week when Best Secret struck in the opening Coral Kincsem Handicap.

Sent off the 7/2 favourite on the back of an eye-catching third-place finish in a competitive handicap at Royal Ascot, Best Secret once again looked as though he had blown his chance following a tardy beginning.

As Marhaba Ghaiyyath quickened up to win his race in the final furlong, Best Secret again looked like going down as something of an unlucky loser. However, under a strong James Doyle drive, he finished with a real flourish to get up by a neck in the shadows of the post.

Fort George and Daiquiri Bay filled the minor places.

"I am still sweating because it was a hell of a race and I wasn't confident during," said Wattel. "He is slow to start so on a track like Goodwood it is not easy. We tried to have the horse starting with more speed but it's his own pace, so we can't do anything about it. We were in trouble but, thanks to James, he found his way on the outside and has a wonderful turn of foot.

"I guess we can see the horse at a higher level. He is a diesel, he needs time to warm up, but after he is finishing like a Ferrari! I will see if the owners have a target for the horse. I will give them some ideas for French racing as well, but he likes coming to England, so everything is open.

"Going a longer distance will definitely help him. Deauville is a very flat racing track, so he had to learn a lot today at Goodwood. I came to Goodwood at the beginning of my career, a very long time ago, to try and claim two-year-olds. At this stage I was doing a lot of claiming races as it's quite popular in France. It didn't work all the time, but it was very fun."

Qatari-based owners Wathnan Racing were getting on the board for the first during the meeting, having saddled twelve runners, which included four beaten favourites, across the opening two days.

Richard Brown, racing advisor of Wathnan Racing, said: "We had a hard-luck story at Royal Ascot and, my goodness, we nearly had another one today. After two furlongs, Best Secret wasn't travelling and didn't look to be enjoying the track. James said he had to be brave and that was pretty impressive in the end.

"Not much has been coming off the pace this week and he has come last to first with a big run. You see a Johnston horse in front and think, 'are we going to get there', because we know how tough they are in front.

''The plan was Ascot and that went wrong. We realigned and this was the plan. He is a tall, narrow horse who will get better. We will look after him. He might only have two more runs this season. He will be a much better horse next year.

"It is a relief we have had a winner. You pile the pressure on yourself because Goodwood is important to us. There are Qatar flags everywhere.''