Spencer times run perfectly to silence doubters

More than six years after he lost the job at the world famous Ballydoyle stables in Ireland, Spencer teamed up with top trainer Aidan O’Brien to land the centrepiece of the five-day meeting.

However, just as the previous day when Frankie Dettori was banned for excessive use of the whip when winning the Prince of Wales’ Stakes’s Stakes on Rewilding, so Spencer incurred the stewards’ displeasure.

The former champion jockey was suspended for four days after being found guilty of both careless riding and using his whip down the shoulder in the forearm position. He will be sidelined on June 30 and July 1, 3 and 4.

Earlier, the 31-year-old jockey had saluted his horse’s courage; it has taken Spencer time to redeem his reputation and ally his natural ability with the tactical acumen that Group One races, like this two-and-a-half-mile marathon, demand.

Having settled the former Irish Derby winner in the early stages, horse and jockey then pounced on the home turn with a decisive move that silenced those who had questioned Fame and Glory’s stamina on rain-softened crowd.

The only people who were not cheering were the bookmakers – the winner had been backed down to 11-8 by punters who believe that the horse has the potential to emulate O’Brien’s legendary Yeats, the four-time Gold Cup winner.

On a captivating day, Bapak Chinta is now bound for York’s Ebor meeting after a stylish victory in the Norfolk Stakes. Trained at Hambleton by Kevin Ryan, it was a first Royal Ascot success for Thirsk jockey Phil Makin.

And Black Panther’s victory in the King George V Stakes was an emotional triumph for Manchester United and England striker Michael Owen – he bred the 4-1 joint favourite and still owns the horse that will now be aimed at Doncaster’s St Leger in September after prevailing under Richard Kingscote with the aforementioned Makin third on 40-1 outsider Well Sharp.

Owen, who has poured millions into Manor House stables in Cheshire where the horse is trained by Tom Dascombe, said: “It doesn’t get any better – this is where you want to end up.”