Thursday, 20 June 2019: Frankie Dettori was out of luck on day one of Royal Ascot 2019, but he was back in the winner's enclosure after the first race on day two.

Raffle Prize returns to scale after winning 2019 Queen Mary Stakes

Victory in the G2 Queen Mary Stakes on Raffle Prize   (18/1) was Dettori's third in the race and his 61st at the Royal Meeting. Twenty-one years ago he landed the Queen Mary Stakes on Bint Allayl, then in 2016 he followed up on Lady Aurelia.

The last-named filly was trained by Wesley Ward, who today saddled the runner-up, Kimari (13/2). She finished a head behind Raffle Prize, and one length ahead of third-placed Final Song (6/1f). Both the first and third were bred by Sheikh Mohammed's Godolophin operation, and the winner is owned by the Sheikh's son and heir, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum.

The race was run in steady rain, and a bedraggled Dettori said: "When I saw Wesley's horse upsides, I thought oh my God, he's a good friend of mine, if I beat him, he will go crazy! 

"My filly was very brave. She jumped good and I knew she had won over six furlongs, so when I saw Wesley's filly I decided to take her on early. The other filly [Kimari] had only run over four and a half furlongs.

"I knew that if it was a test of stamina she would give in sooner or later and in the final 200 metres I saw her stride start to shorten. I knew I had her.

"The rain is on top of the ground at the moment and it is riding good to soft, but I suspect by mid-afternoon it will be soft."