For all the talk of fierce rivalries here this week, the fact of it is that no current trainer has even come close to Aidan O’Brien’s achievements at this meeting since Harbour Master, at 16-1, gave him his first Royal Ascot winner in 1997. Almost three decades later, O’Brien became the first trainer to saddle a century of Royal Ascot winners as Scandinavia clawed his way past Trawlerman in the closing stages of a compelling Gold Cup, and there is little sign that he is even pondering when it might be time to call it a day.
One hundred Royal Ascot winners, and one in 10 of those has now come in the showpiece event of the week, after the moment of generational shift when the eight-year-old Trawlerman, the defending champion, finally yielded to his four-year-old rival within sight of the line.
