Subjectivist wins Gold Cup at Royal Ascot as Stradivarius runs into trouble

Stradivarius failed in his attempt to equal history and win his fourth Gold Cup in a row at Royal Ascot as Subjectivist got first run on the home turn and the favourite ran into trouble and finished fourth.

Trained by Mark Johnston and ridden by weighing-room stalwart Joe Fanning, the 13-2 chance was always prominent and powered home unchallenged, with Stradivarius fading to fourth after gallantly trying to make up ground under Frankie Dettori once getting a clear passage.

Related: Royal Ascot: Subjectivist wins the Gold Cup on Ladies’ Day – live!

“He’s been a great horse this year – he just keeps improving,” reported Fanning afterwards. “I was able to get a breather into him and I thought it would take a good one to get by him. When he won in Dubai he was doing his best work at the end. It’s a great moment for the yard.”

Johnston said: “We were more hopeful than confident but we had a scare after his win in Dubai so he missed quite a lot of work and he fell on the road the other day. It was probably good that the rain stayed away and it stayed fast.

“It’s a sad day for Stradivarius – a winning run has to come to an end at some time and I’m glad we did it.”

Dettori reported: “We ran into trouble and lost all chance.”

More details to follow …