Frankly Darling was the very comfortable winner of the Goup 2 Ribblesdale Stakes over a mile and a half, handing a 50th Royal Ascot success to trainer John Gosden and a 68th to jockey Frankie Dettori.

The Anthony Oppenheimer homebred daughter of Frankel, the 11/8 favourite, came home a length and three-quarters clear of Ennistymon (11/1).

John Gosden said: "Any time you have a winner here - I can remember during this week scrambling one winner, one year having no winners, having six seconds and finally a winner one year. Look, it is not an easy place to win races - as you saw in the Queen Anne.

"Frankly Darling is a lovely filly. She ran only once last year, at Chelmsford. She was a big, rangy girl and a bit unfurnished who needed time to develop. We got a run in and she ran well, and of course she would have gone to the April meeting at Newbury and run in a mile and a quarter fillies' maiden there and then gone to an Oaks trial, then maybe gone to the Oaks. Obviously that all changed.

"She luckily got in on the first day at Newcastle - they divided a maiden, so she got to run on June 1st and won well. She's still learning; as you can see, she was a little wild, there's a bit of Frankel about her - 'I want to run and it's my business if I want to run, not the jockey's' - but she showed an awful lot of class today.

"I don't think I am spoilt for choice for the Oaks. If I have an Oaks filly, it's her. Miss Yoda ran well, but she showed the affect - you are going to get some horses 'bounce' here. She had a hard race in the Lingfield Oaks and to come here, she's done nothing wrong but has run flat.

"She will be freshened up now, but she's a Listed winner, which is fantastic. I think we have one Oaks filly only and we don't have anything remotely related to a Derby horse. That is the way it is.

"It is Royal Ascot. I think it is a huge achievement. This country and many countries in the world have suffered horribly from this sinister disease; it has been devastating. Everything that people are going through, let alone the destruction of our economies and people losing jobs; it is a worldwide problem. So, to be able to come here in this very large amphitheatre in the fresh air, biosecurity - everything's very tightly run, we are cleaning our hands all the time.

"It is a very safe place to be and it's lovely to put on top-quality sport with the best racehorses in Europe, great athletes and great jockeys. We understand that it is a financial blow for the racecourses, but we are putting a show on and it's great that it's going out."

BURNING PETROL

Frankie Dettori said: "Frankly Darling has got some lungs. We were burning plenty of petrol in the first half of the race. She was over-racing a bit, but I managed to slow her down on the turn for home. I thought she had every chance of stopping if she wanted to, but in fairness she galloped out really well. She has got some lungs let me tell you.

"I guess it is all systems go for Epsom for the Oaks. If John and Mr Oppenheimer decide to go down that route I would be delighted. Frankly Darling learned a bit today and she is very exciting.

"Before the first race, it was very hard to pick myself up. I usually walk in and am signing autographs, everybody is slapping me on the back and shouting my name. It was the opposite today. I think I had to have two or three espressos to get me going for the first race. But now the adrenaline is pumping, I had a good battle with Ryan Moore in the second race. I am well warmed up and it's nice to get one on the board.

"It is now 50 winners for John Gosden, who is an amazing trainer. Look, we are racing and the racing is magnificent. Of course we miss the crowd, but we are putting on a show for the people watching at home who are enjoying the races.

"John is amazing. We have a lot of horses running this week. We just got touched off in the Queen Anne, this looks an amazing filly for the Oaks and Stradivarius is going for a third Gold Cup. We have got amazing owners and it is a pleasure to ride for him. He gives me a tremendous amount of confidence. He is a good boss and a good friend.

"Now that we are three races in it is fine. It was very hard to get going for the first race and a lot of the lads were quiet. I wasn't going to do a flying dismount, but ITV asked me to do it and it's not the same without me doing a flying dismount. There's no crowd, but it's still Royal Ascot and I thought I should still celebrate in style."

DERBY CONTENDER

Pyledriver saw off all comers to record an 18/1 success in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes over a mile and a half, marking the son of Harbour Watch as a live contender for the Derby at Epsom on July 4th.

It was a second Royal Ascot success for trainer William Muir, 18 years after Zargus landed the Balmoral Handicap and an eighth for jockey Martin Dwyer, who is Muir's son in law.

Pyledriver took up the running just over two furlongs from home and never looked in any danger as he saw off 9/2 chance Arthur's Kingdom by two lengths.

William Muir said: "We could have had a double! Both horses got led out this morning; I was there to weigh them. Jack's Point (second in the opening Buckingham Palace Handicap) came out of the yard like an absolute jumping jack, and he was 14, 16/1. By the time he'd had his lead-out and come back to his box, he was 66/1. I had to go home and look over the door and check he hadn't lost three legs! I thought, that's fair enough.

"And this horse [Pyledriver] is still a big, weak horse baby, he has progressed and progressed. It i only the last three days that he has come alight. I went to feel his legs the other night and he reared up on top of me, and I thought, 'you're coming now, you're getting your strength up'. I knew he'd stay, and he's got a turn of foot.

"I suppose we will have to think about the Derby. We have got two weeks and a bit longer. He's had an easy run there today - he has gone round in the slip-stream and just picked up. I thought we would run a big race, but there were one or two horses in here that were well-touted, well-talked about. Aidan O'Brien said that Mogul was probably his best Derby hope...

"So I said to the owners - they've got the mare, we've got a New Approach two-year-old, she's beautiful, going really nice, just gently until the back end, we've got an Oasis Dream yearling coming through, and a Frankel filly foal on the ground which is stunning. And the mare is in foal to Kingman, so we've got enough to come. I might have to keep on training now!

"Whatever he does, he is such an athletic, nimble, easy mover. You can never say that a horse will run at Epsom. But this horse has such a balanced way about him, I think he probably would handle Epsom. But you don't know.

"I actually thought last night, probably it will be just be our luck that we will have a winner tomorrow and no one will be there to see it! I told my owners - they live in Weybridge - that I'll be round for a barbecue. There's only two of them, I'm allowed to mix with two others, so I said get the barbecue on. But I've been told I've got to go to Windsor and saddle up there. I am a professional and I do it every time! This is fantastic. We'll be back here Saturday with Jack's Point for the Wokingham."

IMPROVED

Martin Dwyer added: "I felt Pyledriver had improved from his Kempton run. It was only a six-runner race and I thought the two of Aidan's were the only ones to beat. I knew he had more in him and he ran a pleasing race at Kempton.

"He did it well. The ground was no trouble to him. You never know if they will handle Epsom until you have been there, but this horse, we know he stays, has a turn of foot and handles most grounds. The track is a little bit of an unknown, but what he does really well is switch off. If you get a position, he will switch off and then pick up for you when you ask him. They are solid positive points going to Epsom if he takes part.

"The crowd plays its part, but that is normally afterwards when you are either very fed up or you're over the moon as you've had a winner. So much work goes into these championship races. I've been watching mile and a half races round Ascot this week as even though I've ridden here for 20 years, they are so tactically run and you need to be so switched on. As a jockey, these are the big moments so you get your game face on and get on with it.

"I needed to get a bit of room to get off the rail turning in, so I had to move out and take the gap when it was there. I probably hit the front too soon, but he was just a bit lazy and when the runner-up was coming, he did go again. They are really good attributes.

"Pyledriver is a different type of horse to Sir Percy [2006 Derby winner ridden by Dwyer]. He was unbeaten as a two-year-old over six and seven furlongs. This lad by contrast won first time out last year, but is always growing into himself. He ran in the Royal Lodge last year, but it was like Bambi on ice as he was all legs that day."

DELIGHTED OWNERS

Guy Leach, who owns Pyledriver in partnership with his brother Hugh, and Roger Devlin, commented: "I am delighted for William, he works extremely hard and doesn't get the best horses, so just nice to give him a good one. And what a dream ride by Martin Dwyer, another Classic-winning jockey who does not get the rides that he used to, delighted absolutely delighted.

"Unfortunately, it is going to be very quiet. We are in Wales and not allowed to travel more than five miles, it is all very different. But I will still enjoy the night with a glass and watch the race over and over again.

"The horse will tell us, we will have to see what he is like or what William thinks over the next few days. We must remember we would have never have been in the Derby in a normal year and we would never have supplemented him. If the horse is well enough, I am sure we'll take our chance."

CROWLEY TREBLE

Jockey Jim Crowley's rode three winners on the day, his third success coming when he partnered 100/30 chance Nazeef to success in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes. It was a second success on day one for John Gosden.

Four-year-old Nazeef really battled inside the final furlong, getting up to deny 28/1 chance Agincourt by a head.

John Gosden said: "A wonderful treble [for Jim Crowley and Sheikh Hamdan]. It is testament to the owner - he has many horses in training with many trainers. He is a huge part of our industry and I think for Sheikh Hamdan to have a treble on the first day of Ascot - what a huge achievement. I am sure he would like to be here, but boy oh boy, what a great achievement. He puts so much into it and he deserves it.

"She is the sweetest filly; you go into the barn and she is the first to come and say hello to you. She is very affectionate and very genuine and very brave. She did nothing but improve last year; she went right through the handicap ranks and came into listed this year. I have warned about the bounce factor; in her case she won the listed race at Kempton and came back and won here. I think she deserves a little rest now.

"I say a little rest, a good four weeks and there's a great race called the Falmouth! I don't think we'll be running her back in a hurry, that's for sure. Having won a Group 2, obviously you would love to see her get a piece of a Group 1; placed or something. She is a homebred filly and it is very important to the stud.

"She is by Invincible Spirit; they take a little dig in the ground. In the end they went hard and she outstayed them, so I said, 'we're not going to a mile and a quarter quite yet, old boy'.

"The owner has never kept fillies in training. I did ask to keep Taghrooda in training as a four-year-old, because I thought she would have been invincible, but actually he doesn't believe in that. He did keep Enbihaar in training last year and she won all those Group 2s, so Angus Gold got down on the other knee and asked if we could keep this filly in training, and here she is winning a Royal Ascot Group 2 at four. I think if you select the right ones to keep in training, it can be a wonderful time for them."

NICE RIDES

Jim Crowley said: "It's great to have three winners. I had some nice rides today and they all ran very well.

"I thought Motakhayyel would win when no-one else did. Mohaather was really unlucky in the Queen Anne and he is a lovely horse.

"It was great to make it third time lucky on Battaash, and Nazeef was coming into this race off the back of a nice win in the Snowdrop and she toughed it out really well. She has done nothing but improve with every run.

"I am very lucky to be riding some nice horses for some nice yards and that is probably the key really. It was redemption for Battaash today. He had a bit of unfinished business and he got it done.

"This is a special day."

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