WHAT mixed emotions for His Highness the Aga Khan at Royal Ascot on Thursday. He was there to see one of his favourite racehorses, Vazirabad, attempt to land the coveted Group 1 Gold Cup, but after the bravest of efforts the six-year-old had to concede victory to the four-year-old Stradivarius, a son of Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) who commands maximum attention at the Aga’s Gilltown Stud.

Stradivarius was bred by Bjorn Nielsen who offered him for sale as a yearling at Tattersalls where he was unsold at 330,000gns. The colt has won multiples of that amount since and this was his second Group 1 success. Last year he landed the Goodwood Cup, following another success at Royal Ascot when he was victorious in the Group 2 Queen’s Vase.