Our columnist Oisin Murphy secured the top jockey of the week award for Royal Ascot 2021 with victory aboard Foxes Tales in the Golden Gates Handicap.
He'd already had a fabulous meetiing with victories aboard Quickthorn, Alcohol Free, Perotto and Berkshire Shadow.
However both Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore were in with a chance of overhauling him before Andrew Balding's charge ran out a ready winner of the penultimate race.
“I wouldn’t have expected to get it – if you had asked me on Tuesday morning if I would be leading jockey I’d have said ‘of course not’,” said Murphy.
“It normally belongs to Ryan (Moore) and Frankie (Dettori), but they gave me a turn this week and thanks very much to the fast horses this week.
“It’s beyond my wildest dreams to be top jockey here. I watched this meeting with my parents and never thought this armband belonged with me. The last few days have been incredible.”
He added: “It’s special because as I’ve got older I’ve appreciated these days even more. I know I’m only 25, but life is precious. It’s a huge buzz.”
Balding had to settle for second place in the trainers' list.
He trained the same number of winners as John and Thady Gosden but they claimed the crown having had more horses placed through the week.
