HATS – or should that be top hats? – off to the Ascot Authority who honoured and entertained breeders of winners at the Royal Ascot meeting recently. They hosted, for the second time, a lunch at Ascot racecourse on the eve of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and also among the guests were representatives of breeding organisations in Ireland and Britain.

There was a special welcome for a couple who travelled from the USA for lunch, Dr Daniel Kessler and his wife Cathy Cordes. They were honoured following the victory of Con Te Partiro (Scat Daddy), their homebred three-year-old who won the Listed Sandringham Handicap for trainer Wesley Ward.