TWILIGHT SON eclipsed a classy international field in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes under Ryan Moore.
Moore, who was having a fantastic day already gave Henry Candy’s four-year-old a terrific ride to just get him up on the line in front of Hong Kong raider Gold-Fun.
French contender Signs Of Blessing was third.
Moore said: “I always felt when I was going to ask him he would go and win.
“He travelled very strongly. When I rode him here last year (second to Muhaarar) he felt like a very good horse.
“He has obviously taken a while to come to hand this year, but Mr Candy was very confident about him.
“He’s done very little wrong – he’s only been beaten a a couple of times – and he’s proved he’s a high-class horse.”
The victory completed a treble on the afternoon for the brilliant jockey, but he was typically understated when asked what it meant to him.
He added: “It would mean more to ride four!”
Remarkably, it was a first Royal Ascot winner since 1979 for Candy.
He said: “I never come here thinking I’m going to have a winner. We’ve been close a few times and it’s marvellous to get the job done finally.
“He (Twilight Son) is a strong character. After York I realised he needed a lot of work and I’ve been quite hard on him.
“I think he was probably showing the results of that, but he certainly stayed on well enough.
“At one stage I was thinking he was going to be third, but he really dug deep and the jockey on top dug deep.”
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