Havana Ray has led all the way to claim victory in the Group 2 Ajax Stakes at Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens Racecourse today.

The King Cugat gelding won the race by a length ahead of Riva De Lago, who placed second, and Monton, who passed the post in third place.

The early hype surrounded Carlton House, who is the first Australian-trained horse to be owned by the Queen.

Havana Rey winning the Group 2 Ajax Stakes at Rosehill. Photo: Steve Hart.

Trainer Gai Waterhouse was given the enviable job of training the Street Cry gelding, however, he failed to run on in the race and placed 13th of  18 runners.

Havana Rey has now won eight of his 21 race starts and has earned more than $420,000 in prize money during his horse racing career.

The galloper’s most recent result was a fifth placing in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes behind Shoot Out on March 16.

The five-year-old was paying odds of $7.50 to win the 2013 Ajax Stakes and was on the second line of betting.

Trainer Bjorn Baker admitted that he almost didn’t run Havana Rey in today’s Ajax Stakes.

“He only galloped very very average on Tuesday so I was debating whether to take him here,” Baker said.

“He makes his own luck and that’s crucial.

“I didn’t really want to lead but (jockey Gyln Schofield) knows the horse better than me.

“He’s the first Saturday winner and first city winner.”

Jockey Glyn Schofield was also sightly surprised by Havana Rey’s latest race win in the Ajax Stakes.

“He came back to me beautifully round the corner,” Schofield said.

“He found plenty when he needed to.”