 Until 1946 , racehorses in England were allowed to race without an official name and the colt who would become Ladas was still unnamed when he made a successful debut on 31 May in the <unk> Stakes at the Epsom Derby meeting . He showed impressive acceleration to easily beat the filly Mecca and was identified as " a colt full of promise " by one correspondent . He was then sent to Royal Ascot where he started 6 / 4 ( 1 @.@ 5 / 1 ) favourite for the Coventry Stakes on 13 June . He led from the start on this occasion and shook off the opposition in the closing stages to win by one and a half lengths from a colt named Bullingdon . 
