Intermittent rain failed to put a damper on a good night's racing which saw Raving Black triumph in the Cesarewitch and Bowtime Lofty lift the Oxford Maiden Derby title at Oxford on Thursday.

Although the Cesarewitch, the oldest race on the calendar, was expected to be a two-dog race between He Went Whoosh, a past winner, and Kinda Easy, it didn’t turn out that way.

Raving Black, Sean Cahill's Hove runner, had other ideas and after a troubled passage in the qualifiers, showed just what he could do with a clear run.

Sprinting clear from the traps – his sectional time was a fast 15.07secs – the black dog never gave the rest a chance as he enjoyed a solo run to come home four and a quarter lengths ahead of Kinda Easy, posting a superb 39.30.

He Went Whoosh, the 6-4 favourite, never got in a blow after a slow start and faded out of the picture.

The Maiden Derby saw Bowtime Lofty (9-4), from Belle Vue, make his early pace tell after only being fourth away from the boxes.

He moved off the rails at a crowded first bend, but once hitting the second corner was never in danger of conceding the title to runner-up Addington Beau (4-1).

The winning margin was one and a quarter lengths in a time of 27.02.

In the supporting open races, Paddy Curtin’s Farloe Ellie blitzed her field in the Tech Shop UK Stayers over 595m, coming home in a fast 36.82.

Richard Yeates gave the new owners of Tipp Are Back a sparkling debut victory to land the Tech Shop UK Standard in 26.82, the fastest four-bend clock of the night.

Yeates was also in good form at Hove where his Boherna Blackie, owned by Mick Lowe and Pete Dawson, reached the final of the Coral Brighton Belle, worth £2.500 to the winner.

She took victory in her semi-final by a short head from 5-4 favourite Spinkys Nod.

It continued Yeates’s good run after Lily Rules scored at Hall Green On Tuesday.