ONCE again, it was Dermot Weld’s day at Ascot on Friday. The veteran handler sent out his first winner at this fixture when Klairvimy landed the King Edward VII Stakes 50 years and two days ago, and he has remained at the top of his profession since.

Tahiyra was giving him am 18th winner at the Royal Meeting, which include the Gold Cup itself with Rite Of Passage as well as a brace of wins in what is now the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (then the Cork & Orrery) with Committed and Big Shuffle.

Although the taste of victory at Ascot is familiar to the master of Rosewell House, but it was just the first for jockey Chris Hayes who paid tribute to ‘the boss’ after his moment of glory. Hayes did not panic when things didn’t go as expected in the early stages, and he deserves the trust that he gets from his guv’nor.

It wasn’t to be Aidan O’Brien’s day on Friday, with Little Big Bear beaten in the Commonwealth Cup and Meditate out of the places in the Coronation Stakes, but it must be some consolation on your bad days at the office when you can congratulate two of your sons on saddling Royal Ascot winners.

That was the unprecedented scenario as Donnacha gained his first win at the meeting with Porta Fortuna in the Albany Stakes, and just over an hour later it was Joseph’s turn for the fatherly handshake as Okita Soushi came late and wide under Ryan Moore to land the Duke of Edinburgh Handicap. On top of that, wife Annemarie bred Porta Fortuna, so it worked out a remarkably good day for the O’Brien clan.

Smaller operation

A much smaller operation who hit the limelight is that of Julie Camacho and partner Steve Brown, who have grafted hard for success, and finally got not only a winner at the biggest meeting of all, but their first Group 1 after a great deal of success slightly lower down the ladder. Camacho’s father Maurice was a top-class trainer in his own right, and Julie has carried that flame with credit.

To win at all at Ascot is difficult, but both Camacho and jockey Oisin Murphy admitted that they thought all chance had gone when the quirky Shaquille reared up and lost lengths at the start.

The plan had been to make the running, so it’s easy to see why it seemed a disaster, but Murphy – riding the horse in place of James Doyle – put Plan B into action with tremendous effect to produce a memorable win, and surely the ride of the week.