A jockey joked about getting paid by Frankie Dettori for his role in the fan favourite's Royal Ascot success.
Rab Havlin helped prep Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami and Queen's Vase winner Gregory for the big occasion. Dettori's weighing room colleague rode both horses in all of their warm-up races, before stepping aside for him at the five-day Flat spectacular.
"You'd like to be on them yourself, but that's just the way it is," Havlin told Racing TV.
It is a common theme for Havlin to educate the younger horses at John and Thady Gosden's huge stable in Newmarket.
He teamed up with Courage Mon Ami in three much lesser races, before the stout stayer shone in the meeting's feature contest a week ago. Havlin also steered Gregory to a brace of victories earlier in the season.
Both horses proved to be lucky buys for Wathnan Racing, owned by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in advance of the fixture. In total, the thoroughbreds scooped almost £500,000 for the team – and Havlin quipped about Dettori handing him his share.
"Frankie says he's going to give me all the prize money!" he said, after winning on the Gosdens' Rajasthan at Salisbury on Wednesday.
"I think he has got most of it spent already."
Havlin, who ended his 31-year wait for a Group One triumph last October, went to say that it is still a bit tricky to watch Dettori take over when the main event comes around.
"If you didn't say it hurt you a little bit in the guts, you shouldn't really be in the game - you've got to be competitive," he added.
"You could say I'm well used to it by now. It was just nice to see them going on and winning, progressing. I always thought both horses were going to be real good stayers, we'll have to try and keep the two of them apart next year, which might be pretty difficult."
Dettori's golden moments on the two Gosden horses were among four wins at Royal Ascot 2023, where his 33-year stint came to an end.
Retiring later this year, the top jockey amassed 81 successes there over the years, including in nine renewals of the Gold Cup. He began his final day by having lunch with the King and Queen at Windsor Castle, followed by a ride in the Royal procession up the track.
"I’m too tired to cry, but I am a bit sad. It’s been a very good Royal Ascot," he said.
"I finished in [almost] last place [in my last race], but we did really well throughout the week, I’ve loved it, and the crowd has been really good."
Dettori subsequently lost his appeal to overturn a nine-day ban for careless riding on the King and Queen’s horse Saga. It means he will miss the ride on hot favourite Emily Upjohn in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes on July 8.
Dettori will also be sidelined for another eight days for breaching whip rules in the Queen Anne Stakes, the first race on the prestigious programme.
