Bleak opening day for Dettori - it felt like a glimpse of what Royal Ascot will be like when he is no longer riding

Frankie Dettori gave his fans plenty to cheer about on day one at Royal Ascot, just not quite at the point of the race when you really want to be cheering. Inspiral, Givemethebeatboys, Chaldean, they were all in front at some stage or at least fighting for the lead, but the winning post always turned out to be a bit too far away.

Confidence jockey as he may be, desperate for a valedictory success as he undoubtedly is, still he didn't seem to let these reverses get on his nerves. It's easy enough to bounce back from a handful of decent runs in defeat – the real blow came from the stewards at the end of the day.

Inspiral's Queen Anne defeat was the one that might have grated; when you make a big forward move on a Coronation Stakes winner to join battle with a 33-1 shot, surely victory is within touching distance.