Great Barrier Reef (2c No Nay Never - Gems, by Haafhd) maintained his unbeaten record with victory in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday. The Ballydoyle-trained colt had made a fine impression on debut when scoring by six lengths at the Curragh in April. He graduated to Group company when landing the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes the following month at the Curragh. Ridden by Wayne Lordan, Great Barrier Reef raced far side in the centre and came to press the leaders over two furlongs out when the groups merged. He was ridden out to lead inside the final furlong and kept on to win by half a length. Aidan O’Brien said: “Great Barrier Reef is obviously not a home worker and, even before he won the last day, we were a little bit disappointed with his work. But he's clearly better on the track, although we've always liked him. “He went there with a very live chance – he's an unbeaten horse and has always shown ability. We thought he was very good when he won first time, I think by five or six lengths, and then he was still green last time but won a good race. We worked him last week and Ryan's horse [Confucius] came out the better of the two, so we thought he was the horse. “Wayne gave him a lovely ride. He said he was finishing off very well, while Ryan felt they went plenty hard on his side. From where he was drawn, Ryan got sucked into it and had to keep going. Wayne was in the other group on the far side and they were finishing well because the near-side group had gone so hard, perhaps. “Great Barrier Reef handles different types of ground. He's a lovely straightforward horse and I think he'll get further than six furlongs as well.” Lordan added: "When Great Barrier Reef started to roll forward with me, he was probably drifting a little bit left looking for a bit of company – because I was out there on my own. But I always knew he was running on, so I thought I had every chance. “Because of where I was, I thought David Egan was probably the only pace I had to follow and I just wanted to keep it simple and follow him. From halfway I started to make my move and he kept picking up all the way to the line. He feels like he hit the line well enough to step up in trip.” Great Barrier Reef was bred by Barronstown Stud.