THE boys reigned at Royal Ascot’s opening day, taking all seven races, Frost At Dawn coming closest to giving the fillies a win, beaten a neck in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes. Three Group 1 races, a Group 2 juvenile contest and a listed 10-furlong race were highlights of the day’s programme.

For almost everyone present, and those watching, the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes was the most eagerly anticipated race of the week, with the winners of the Irish, British and French 2000 Guineas lining up against each other. They occupied the first three places on the line, but in a finish that established Field Of Gold as the best three-year-old colt about. What he can yet achieve is anyone’s guess, but first he will have a break and plans will then be made.