The 2016 Royal Ascot festival was a record-breaking week for Irish-trained horses, who between them recorded 10 winners, while Irish-bred horses dominated once again.

From a trainer's perspective Aidan O'Brien dominated proceedings with seven winners - his closest rival sent out two winners - which saw him crowned leading trainer at the showpiece meeting for a seventh time.

He brought his overall tally at Royal Ascot to 54 winners, an outstanding achievement considering his first winner at the Berkshire venue came just 20 years ago. When O'Brien's runners are dissected in more detail, his achievements are even more remarkable.

Eighteen of his 26 runners finished in the first four, giving him an amazing 69.23% strike-rate. Seven winners meant he had a 26.92% winners-to-runners average.

He recorded one Group 1 and two Group 2 wins and might have added another two Group 1 races to that total with The Gurkha and Alice Springs, had they enjoyed more luck in running.

It was not all about O'Brien, though, as two trainers better known as National Hunt handlers recorded winners. Gordon Elliott sent out the former John Ferguson-trained Commissioned to win the Queen Alexandra Stakes on his very first start for his new stable.

Commissioned won two races from three starts with Mark Johnston before joining Ferguson for a jumping career. He won three hurdles races and finished midfield in the County Hurdle before changing hands for £65,000 at the Bloomfields/Ferguson dispersal last April. It was another memorable training performance for Elliott, who has now has Gold Cup, Grand National and Royal Ascot victories on his CV.

Jarlath Fahey is another trainer better known for his exploits in the NH field but the Monasterevin-based handler is more than capable of mixing it with the best of them on the flat, too, when he gets the horse.

Jennies Jewel is not your stereotypical Royal Ascot winner, a nine-year-old Flemensfirth mare who arrived at the Berkshire venue with 46 starts to her name, 40 of them having come under National Hunt rules.

She started off, a mere four years ago, with seven bumpers runs, winning just one, but she has kept on improving thorough the hurdling ranks. Tried on the flat, she recorded two wins, a second and a third from five starts prior to Royal Ascot and as a result of a brilliant front-running ride from the talented Ronan Whelan (also a Monasterevin man) in the Ascot Stakes, she made it three wins from six starts.

Mick Halford trains just up the road from Fahey and he also recorded his first Royal Ascot winner in the shape of Portage, a winner of the Royal Hunt Cup. His win was part of a significant four-timer during the week for Godolphin who were determined to step things up this year with a massive 55 runners, trained by 14 different trainers from Britain, Ireland, France, the USA and Australia. Halford did not let the team down with Portage, who warmed up for the Hunt Cup with a listed win at the Curragh and the son of Godolphin's Teofilio is bound to go on to better things.

There were also two winners from America and two from France at the meeting.

The Irish breeding industry had another memorable week as well. Coolmore Stud's Galileo ended the week as the clear top stallion with five wins and a very close second with Found in the Prince of Wales's Stakes.

Horses foaled in Ireland won a massive 19 of the 30 races on offer (63.33%) with British-bred horses recording six wins and American-breds amassing a commendable five first-place finishes.

The Irish-bred horses came at all levels but one of the most amazing stories was that of My Dream Boat who, in beating Found, became the cheapest Group 1 winner sold over the week, having changed hands for a mere €3,500 as a foal.

Sir Isaac Newton was the most expensive Royal Ascot winner at a public sale. The Listed Wolferton Handicap cost 3.6million guineas, which puts the achievements of My Dream Boat into perspective.

From trainers to horses, it was a memorable week for all that were Irish.