Royal Ascot: Dettori magic on day four of British horse racing’s most famous festival

A Royal Ascot Derby, a spectacular last to first victory and a milestone 80th winner for the incomparable Frankie Dettori.

Yes, day four had all the thrills and frills customarily associated with the historic meeting that has yielded two significant successes for Dubai’s Royal family.

However, the spotlight was unequivocally focused on Dettori, who even at the age of 52, and riding in his final Royal Ascot meeting before he hangs up his boots at the end of the year, continues to deliver breathtaking performances.

The Italian arrived at the Berkshire course flashing smiles at all and sundry who caught his eye before he got down to business and duly landed the first race, the Albany Stakes.(G3).

Helping him create more history at a venue, where in 1996 he won all seven races, was the Irish raider Porta Fortuna.

Dettori completed a double when he captured the Sandringham Stakes aboard Coppice.

There was a fair share of drama between Dettori's wins in the twin features of the day — the Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Cup — for different reasons.

Both incidents involved jockeys who have enjoyed success in Dubai, including two-time British champion jockey Oisin Murphy, who produced a masterclass aboard a horse name after one of basketball’s greatest players, Shaquille O’Neal.

Trained by Julie Camacho in Yorkshire, Shaquille reared up at the start and almost unseated Murphy. But the talented rider showed plenty of composure to allow his horse to settle himself at the back of the 13-runner field before he patiently worked his way back into contention and ran on strongly to deny the odds-on favourite Little Big Bear in the closing stages.

“The race was almost over at the start. I had to take a deep breath and hope they had gone too fast up front and would slow down at the end,” Murphy told ITV Racing.

“It was a top, top-class performance from the horse. I am thrilled. It’s a fantastic feeling.”

More drama arose during a rather scrappy end to the Coronation Cup. Chris Hayes’ mount, Tahiyra shifted right under pressure and needed to survive a Steward’s Enquiry before his jockey could celebrate, which he did by hugging and kissing the massive bowl-shaped trophy.

The King Edward VII Stakes, a race traditionally contested by colts who were out of luck in the Epsom Derby, was won in impressive fashion by King Of Steel, the runner-up to Augusto Rodin in the premier British race at the start of the month.

Saturday is the fifth and final day of the Royal meeting where the feature race is the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes which features some of the best sprinters in the world.