Delighted Dettori triumphs at final Royal Ascot

Frankie Dettori claimed a winner at his final Royal Ascot meeting as he took the Queen’s Vase aboard Gregory.

“I couldn’t be happier. I thought the winner was never going to come his year,” said Dettori, who finished second three times on Tuesday.

Earlier, Mostahdaf sprang a surprise to win the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Gregory could give Dettori a chance of a final Classic later in the year, with the St Leger at Doncaster a potential target.

The jockey had a frustrating opening day which saw him given a nine-day ban for careless riding, which he will serve next month.

But he set a perfect pace from the front on the well-backed Gregory to secure his 78th Royal Ascot winner, which he celebrated with his trademark flying dismount.

Mostahdaf, a 10-1 chance ridden by Jim Crowley for trainers John and Thady Gosden, cruised through the race before speeding clear of a high-quality field in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

The 2-1 favourite Luxembourg was four lengths back in second, with the 2021 Derby winner Adayar in third.

“It was a fantastic run. We’ve always held him in high regard,” said winning jockey Crowley.

My Prospero finished fourth, with Bay Bridge fifth.

Ryan Moore had led from the start on 2-1 favourite Luxembourg, but he was no match for Mostahdaf, who was runner-up to Broome in the Hardwicke Stakes at Ascot last year.

The Shadwell-owned winner had finished last in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October, but returned this year with victory in Saudi Arabia before finishing fourth to Japanese star Equinox in Dubai.

“The ground has dried out, which he really enjoyed. He’s run a couple of times on soft ground and laboured on it,” said John Gosden.

“He won in Saudi Arabia in great style and then he took on probably the best horse in the world, Equinox, and we freshened him up for this.”

Gosden said Mostahdaf would be aimed at the Juddmonte International at York in August.

Earlier, Villanova Queen secured an emotional triumph for Irish trainer Jessica Harrington, who is recovering from breast cancer.

Colin Keane claimed his first victory at the meeting aboard the 25-1 chance in the Kensington Palace Fillies’ Handicap.

Harrington was not at Ascot for the victory, but plans to attend later in the week.

“It means an awful lot to the whole team, it’s been a very tough year. It’ll be a good tonic for mum,” said Harrington’s daughter Kate.

On a day of big-priced winners, horses named after celebrities dominated in the Royal Hunt Cup as Jimi Hendrix beat Sonny Liston.

Rossa Ryan rode the 22-1 winner in a one-two for trainer Ralph Beckett and owners Chelsea Thoroughbreds.

Trainer Mick Appleby secured his first Royal Ascot winner with Big Evs in the Windsor Castle Stakes.

The 20-1 chance, named after racing fan Paul Evans who died last year, gave jockey Jason Hart victory after he was narrowly beaten on Highfield Princess a day earlier.

Dettori had to settle for third on Prosperous Voyage as Rogue Millennium won the Duke of Cambridge Stakes

The 10-1 winner, ridden by Danny Tudhope for trainer Tom Clover and the Rogues Gallery syndicate, was a supplementary entry for the race and beat Random Harvest by a neck.

American challenger Crimson Advocate just held on to win the Queen Mary Stakes by the narrowest of margins.

John Valesquez, riding for George Weaver, prevailed by a nose on the 9-1 shot from the fast-finishing Relief Rally.

Weaver was joined at Ascot by his wife and assistant trainer Cindy, who suffered a severe brain injury in a riding accident last year.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended again on Wednesday, but their two runners – Reach For the Moon and Circle Of Fire – finished out of the places.