Royal Ascot: Inspiral wins the Coronation Stakes under Frankie Dettori

Inspiral won the Coronation Stakes by four and three quarter lengths

Inspiral was a breathtaking winner of the Coronation Stakes to give jockey Frankie Dettori something to celebrate at this year’s Royal Ascot meeting.

The unbeaten 15-8 favourite, trained by John and Thady Gosden, surged clear on her seasonal return from runner-up Spendarella, with Discoveries third.

A day earlier Dettori had been beaten on record-seeking Stradivarius and two horses owned by the Queen.

“It’s been a tough week. We’re on the board and can chillax a bit,” he said.

Dettori treated racegoers to his trademark flying dismount after a four-and-three-quarter-lengths victory on the daughter of Frankel, owned by Cheveley Park Stud.

Ascot’s dress code was relaxed as temperatures reached 30C, with massive fans in the paddock plus lot of water buckets to help cool horses down.

Inspiral was slowly away from the stalls for Dettori, who received some criticism for his ride on third-placed Stradivarius for the Gosdens in the Gold Cup, and was twice runner-up for the Queen on stablemates Saga and Reach For the Moon.

But the Italian jockey kept his cool on the filly, who had been ruled out of last month’s 1,000 Guineas, and she found another gear to storm clear of her rivals for a fifth career triumph.

John Gosden said Saga should have won and Dettori had “got the monkey off his back” with the victory but the trainer had moved on from Thursday.

“You can’t keep looking back – you discuss it, you deal with it and you move on. The horses need your full attention and don’t need you wandering round with your lip dropped down,” he said.

Dettori was celebrating his first winner of the 2022 Royal Ascot meeting

Earlier, Perfect Power secured a second successive Royal Ascot win by taking the Commonwealth Cup.

Trainer Richard Fahey was in tears as he called his winner, the 7-2 joint favourite ridden by Christophe Soumillon, a “special horse”.

It was a third top-level Group One victory for Perfect Power, who also won the Norfolk Stakes last year.

Flaming Rib (14-1), part-owned by former England footballer Michael Owen, was second, with 40-1 outside Flotus third.

The 11-2 shot Candleford was guided to an impressive win in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes by jockey Tom Marquand for trainer William Haggas.

Candleford is owned and bred by Barnane Stud, run by former England cricketer Craig Kieswetter and his family.

“I’d much rather have a winner here I think,” he said when asked to compare the victory with his playing career. “It’s a lot more fun and there’s a lot more champagne to drink.”

Ryan Moore claimed his fourth win of the week as he led from start to finish on the Aidan O’Brien-trained Meditate (5-2) in the Albany Stakes.