THE Gold Cup is no longer truly the centrepiece of the five days of Royal Ascot, but sometimes it is won by a horse who reminds us of the race’s glory days, and that was the case this year.

Order Of St George did not record a stellar time – his timefigure is just 109 – but he did record a highly impressive closing two-furlong of 24.92s to win with authority after he had run into traffic, and his 126 timefigure in last year’s Irish St Leger remains the best by an active horse in Britain and Ireland at beyond a mile.