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The homebred's win capped off a golden spell for the Shadwell team

Last year’s Coronation Cup hero Hukum returned from a 356-day lay-off to defeat reigning Derby winner Desert Crown in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown on Thursday.

The Owen Burrows-trained six-year-old sustained a potentially career-ending hind-leg fracture in his Group 1 victory at Epsom last year but showed he had lost none of his outstanding ability when overcoming trouble in running to finish strongly and win by half a length in the Group 3 contest.

“I’m a little bit speechless,” his trainer told the Racing Post. “A furlong down I was pleased, I thought he’d got stuck in a bit of a pocket and we were going to run on and finish second. I would have been chuffed with that.

“I’ve always said he’s not a slow horse, he’s always shown speed at home, but it’s amazing that he just seems to have a bit more this year.

“Plenty come back from that kind of injury but he was a five-year-old when it happened and I honestly didn’t think it would be in the realm of possibility he would. Sheikha Hissa very sportingly said if his rehab goes well then he could return, so fair play to her.”

Hukum, a wonderfully consistent horse who has now won 10 of his 16 starts.

The Shadwell homebred is by Sea The Stars out of the Listed-winning Kingmambo mare Aghareed, a descendant of the late Sheikh Hamdan’s brilliant blue hen mare Height Of Fashion, which makes him a full-brother to the brilliant champion Baaeed, who is covering a glittering book of mares in his first season at Nunnery Stud this year.

Hukum’s victory continues a productive spell for Shadwell.

On the same day, the Roger Varian-trained three-year-old colt Enfjaar made it two from two by scoring by six lengths in a Chelmsford novice stakes, and the three-year-old John and Thady Gosden-trained filly Al Asifah also cruised to wide-margin victory in a Haydock maiden on debut.

A day earlier Al Husn, a Shadwell homebred four-year-old filly in the care of Varian, ran out a comfortable winner of the Listed Rothesay Stakes at Ayr.

And only a week before, the Gosden-trained three-year-old colt Mostabshir made all the running to win by five lengths in a mile novice stakes at the prestigious Dante meeting at York. Another Shadwell homebred, he is a half-brother to the high-class pair Mostahdaf and Nazeef.

It is shaping up to be a sensational summer for the Shadwell squad.