IT is fair to say that things did not always go Idaho’s way as a three-year-old last year, so it was good to see him begin to make amends with success in the Hardwicke Stakes on the final day of Royal Ascot.

In form terms, it was at least as good as anything he had achieved previously, but in time terms a 109 timefigure is some way short of what he should be capable of. The race was not especially well-run, but it was not slow, either.

In that context, it can be argued that runner-up Barsanti (108 timefigure) did at least as well as the winner in closing from off the pace.

A similar pace scenario, and similar closing sectionals for the principals, had unfolded 35 minutes earlier in the Wolferton Handicap, in which Tim Easterby’s Snoano (108) held the late thrust of Majeed (106) by a neck.

The meeting concluded with a falsely-run Queen Alexandra Stakes, in which nine-year-old Oriental Fox repeated his win from two years earlier. The last three furlongs were run in just 36.03s by the winner, representing a finishing speed of 111.1%, showing that speed was being tested and not just stamina.

OUTSIDE OF ROYAL ASCOT

Royal Ascot dominated proceedings in the period under review, but there were a few noteworthy performances elsewhere, including a track record at Beverley on the same afternoon that Barney Roy and Co were breaking records in Berkshire.

Judicial became the first horse to break a minute flat for five furlongs at a course which rises by about 79 feet from start to finish according to Google Earth.

Julie Camacho’s horse stopped the clock at 59.77s and that record will likely stand for a long time. He has now put up 110 timefigures on his last two runs and looks worth a crack against some of the better sprinters around.

Invincible Army had run subsequent Chesham third Masar to a short-head on his debut at Goodwood in May (also Bartholomeu Dias, fourth in the Chesham, was well held in third) and went one better in style at Newmarket on Friday, winning by five lengths and clocking a 98 timefigure.

James Tate’s son of Invincible Spirit, out of Falmouth Stakes winner Rajeem, looks ready for a group-race foray and is entered in the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh in September.