A hard fought performance has seen Fast 'N' Rocking return to the winner's stall in the Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes at Sandown.

Backing up quickly following his close third on Emirates Stakes day, the recently gelded galloper proved too good, after Generalife looked to have the race at his mercy early in the straight.

Kicking strongly over the concluding stages, Fast 'N' Rocking held on to narrowly deny the Godolphin trained galloper.

"I had a beautiful run in transit, I was just a little bit wary of getting there too soon," Dunn said.

"The second horse [Generalife] had me done and dusted, but he kicked beautifully.

Successful in bringing up his fourth career victory, trainer Tom Dabernig was very pleased with his performance.

"Dwayne rode him beautifully and he's been riding well all Spring," Dabernig said.

"Since been gelded, he's [Fast 'N' Rocking] had a really good Spring."

Tried up to a mile, Dabernig felt they would keep Fast 'N' Rocking to the sprinting trips moving forward.

"He's in excellent form and I really feel the 1300m is ideal for him, but he's also a very good sprinter," Dabernig said.

"Now his rating is up, we'll be able to just back off him and have a lot of fun with him."

On trial on the quick back up, Dabernig was pleased it worked out in their favour.

"When you back a horse up, you have to consider how they do during the week and he did really well," Dabernig said.

"Fortunately it proved the right decision."