No fairytale Royal Ascot farewell for Frankie Dettori as Burdett Road lands the Golden Gates

All the attention was on Frankie Dettori as he took his final Royal Ascot ride in the Golden Gates Stakes, but it was another veteran jockey still riding at the peak of powers who overshadowed him.

Neil Callan capped a memorable week with a decisive success aboard Burdett Road, who shot clear of the field two furlongs out and was not for catching.

Eight years younger than Dettori – who finished unplaced on Knockbrex – at the age of 44, Callan had kickstarted the meeting with victory on Triple Time in the Queen Anne and signed off with a final-day success on the Michael Bell-trained colt.

"We started with a bang and we finished with a bang," said Callan, who returned to Britain two years ago after an 11-year stint in Hong Kong.

"I've been to Hong Kong and back and when you get older you ride a bit more relaxed. You 100 per cent appreciate it more and I appreciate what I've done since coming back from Hong Kong."

Frankie Dettori and Knockbrex finish unplaced on the jockey's last ride at the royal meeting

Callan asked Burdett Road for his effort and the son of Muhaarar quickened away impressively before holding off Lion Of War by three-quarters of a length.

"He was very good on his last start when bossing a small field around Newbury and he loved the fast ground out there," the jockey said.

"He travelled ever so well and accelerated. He probably surprised me a bit as he accelerated a bit too well and too early, but you can't really change your mind once you've committed."

Bell, gaining his ninth Royal Ascot victory, was thrilled to team up again with the Gredley family back at the scene of their 2017 Gold Cup win with Big Orange.

"He was bred by the Gredleys, who have been very lucky owners, and we're delighted," Bell said. "The most difficult thing about training is getting the well-bred horses to walk through the door and we're lucky we've got the Gredleys.

"It was a much deeper race than at Newbury and we haven't done much with him, but he's a very good-looking horse and it was a good performance."

The Aidan O'Brien stable ended a brilliant week on a low note with Canute suffering a fatal injury during the race.

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