After another succession of favourites won on the fifth day of Royal Ascot there was only one bookmaker up on the week and that was Paddy Power in his guise as an owner.
David Power, who founded the business, top and tailed the meeting by winning Tuesday's big sprint,the King's Stand Stakes, with Sole Power and Saturday's even bigger sprint, the Diamond Jubilee Stakes with Slade Power.
Both horses, no relation, are trained by Eddie Lynham, who brought four horses over from Ireland and, having also won the Queen Mary as well, went back home to Meath with three winners, a quite remarkable 75 per cent strike-rate.
His only worry was that once the 7-2 shot Slade Power a homebred Dutch Art colt named after Power's daughter's art college hit the front he would pull himself up. He did not do that but he ran around a bit and had to survive a stewards' inquiry after forcing the length-and-a-quarter runner-up Due Diligence to snatch up just before the line.
"He's only used to looking at one man and a dog in the mornings, not 70,000," Lynham said. "I never had an issue about the fast ground but by the time I read all the clever guys and watched The Morning Line I was beginning to have doubts. It's just coincidence I had the best horse in three races. Trainers only get 10 per cent for a reason it's only 10 per cent to do with us."
Though he also won the King's Stand in 2013 with Sole Power, Lynham said last year had been good professionally but a personal disaster after his wife broke her neck and back in a fall on the gallops on April 13 and he had suffered a heart attack. This time, however, she was back up on her feet in the winner's enclosure revelling in the yard's big day. This capped last year on all counts.
As last days at the royal meeting go it was an exceptional one. Sir Michael Stoute has many virtues as a trainer and patience is one of them. That was never more evident than in his training of the seven-length Hardwicke Stakes winner Telescope, who finally delivered the performance connections thought he had in him.
Now mature and back on fast ground, he looked very useful indeed and helped seal a sixth top trainer award for Stoute and a fourth leading jockey title for the ever reliable Ryan Moore in five years. Telescope could now follow in the footsteps of another Highclere-owned Hardwicke winner, Harbinger, who returned a month later to win the King George.
