Giavellotto won the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot | report, reaction and replay

This was a fine renewal of the 12 furlong Group 2, featuring half a dozen Group/Grade 1 winners and Marco Botti's stable flagbearer was relatively unconsidered in the market.

Lambourn took the field along, with Kalpana never too far off the pace, with stablemate Jan Brueghel well placed on the inside behind him but West Wind Blows and Santorini Star soon came around the outside to take up prominent positions.

Lambourn weakened at the top of the straight with the jockeys behind playing their cards, some pulling wide and others looking for room up the inside.

Colin Keane was perfectly placed aboard Kalpana and hit the front but a few lengths back, Goliath appeared to be on the bridle under Christophe Soumillon and the only question was how much he would find.

He found enough but possibly not as much as looked likely but in between the pair, Giavellotto and Oisin Murphy had made their ground to form a line of three. Suddenly, Goliath dropped off them with Soumillon's legs out of his irons.

Kalpana and Giavellotto had the race between them and it was only in the shadow of the post that Giavellotto put his head in front with the pair split by a short-head.

It capped a fairly miserable week for Soumillon who picked up a suspension for his ride in the St James's Palace Stakes on the opening day.

He explained the incident, saying: "I was trying to come beside Oisin [Murphy] easily because my horse likes to feel he is comfortable and when I tried to put my feet backwards to squeeze him with my heels, my stirrup just got blocked with my girth, my feet were backwards and I lost my iron on the right side.

"It's nobody's fault, I couldn't imagine it was going to happen at that point of the race, I wasn't moving on him. It was going to be a close call but when you lose it like this, especially as I was not expecting it, I nearly lost my balance and I was lucky to stay on him.

"He gave me everything today, unfortunately I was one or two positions too far back because of my draw, if I was drawn four or five I think I would have ridden him more positively but he needs cover and to come between horses on the bridle, like he does all the time, and we always know he hangs right in the last 200 yards and he did a little bit."

Botti said: “What a rider. When he got upsides her I thought he wasn’t going to get the filly as she just keeps finding. He is an incredible horse. He has taken us around the world, and to then win at Royal Ascot you can’t ask anything more than that. He is an unbelievable horse.

“We knew it was going to be Group One level, but he has never let us down. He was a bit warm beforehand, but that is typical of him. He just gets warm, but it is a great job by Andrew, who rides him every day as he has done a brilliant job.

“He hasn’t run a bad race even in defeat. He was fourth in the Arc and second in Hong Kong. In Qatar he was probably a bit unlucky, and he was then a respectable third in the Dubai Sheema Classic. I said to the owner why not try Royal Ascot for the Hardwicke Stakes. Every owner wants to have a horse here and it worked out well so I’m delighted.

“Oisin is a brilliant jockey. He had a plan in mind. He said I’m going to follow Kalpana, and she will take me to the furlong marker. He has ridden the race that he had planned in mind.

“I don’t think he will come back for the King George. Later in the season we want to go back to Hong Kong. We haven’t entered him for the King George. We will keep him fresh, and he likes travelling, so I think that will be the priority.”

Connections of beaten horses

Andrew Balding said of Kalpana: “I’m very proud of her. The winner is a very good horse. We are probably better on softer ground and he is very good on this ground. I was very proud of the way she ran.

“I’m delighted for Marco and his team as it was a hell of a horse race. We were a little bit worried about the ground, but Chris [Stickels] has done a magnificent job all week and he was satisfied that the ground was safe and that was important.

“The King George would be very much on the agenda.”

Francis Graffard, trainer of Goliath, remarked: “I think with the draw we had we were really far behind. I don’t think my horse would have had the energy to get them. I’m so pleased as I think the good Goliath is really back. We loved to see him coming there on the bridle like that.

“With what happened to Christophe he didn’t have a really hard race so it will be better for the next race. It is hard to win at Royal Ascot, and you need a lot of luck, and this week we didn’t have the luck with us, but it was still a very good performance from him.

“He made up a lot of ground and it is wonderful. I think he is better on fast ground as he is very efficient. Hopefully next time we have better luck with him.

“He will definitely come back for the King George as he loves this place, and hopefully we get a better draw.”

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