Meet the young trainer making waves with a perfect record at Royal Ascot

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The first thing Harry Eustace did on Sunday morning was watch the replay of Friday's Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes, a race-title that will probably keep giving him thrills for a very long time. When Latin Lover charged to the front in the final strides, it was a cue for bedlam in the stands because Eustace had trained his first Royal Ascot winner at the very first attempt and in just his second season as a trainer.

"I just wanted to make sure," he says, explaining why he had to have another look at the footage. "It's sort of sinking in now, which is nice."

One runner, one winner. Eustace's record at the Royal meeting is unimpeachable. "You wonder whether we should just leave it there," he says.

The Front Runner gave a mention to Latin Lover on Friday but wouldn't have given much for his chance at the furlong pole as Peggy Sioux charged to the fore under Josephine Gordon. But all was not over ... You can see the reactions of Eustace, family and friends in a video they posted to Twitter.

"There was a lot of pent-up emotion, building into it," he says. "Yes, it was very, very exciting and meant a huge amount to everyone involved.

"It was quite a hard race to watch. The early part went well. Then, I thought the race was developing away from us, it was going to be tough for him from where he was.

"But Hayley [Turner] got him into contention and luckily the race sort of drifted towards the middle and we convened there. When he had something to battle against, he found again and hit the line really strongly."

The 34-year-old Eustace took over from his father, James, at the beginning of last year and has made a really excellent start to his career. Things had got a bit quiet at Park Lodge Stables, in the centre of Newmarket, where Harry grew up and James saddled Refuse To Lose to land the Royal Hunt Cup in 1998, but the younger man has revived its fortunes.

From April to November, there was never a month in his first season when he was not among the winners. His strike-rate this year has been 24 per cent. He set a new personal best for monthly prize money in May and has now careered past it in June.

His plan, he says, was to seek horses who would peak at three and older, rather than out-and-out juveniles, and it appears he is now reaping the benefits of some good choices. He has 35 animals in his care, with room for more.

We know for sure that top-class animals can be trained from Park Lodge because Chief Singer, a dual Royal Ascot winner among his various achievements, was there in the days when Ron Sheather trained on the site. Jeff Smith, whose colours were carried by Chief Singer and Refuse To Lose, now has horses with Eustace Jr.

George Wood rides for the yard quite a bit and would have ridden Latin Lover on Friday, if the horse had been set 3lb more to carry; alas, he can't do 8st 2lb. Eustace hopes to provide Wood with other big days.

"I actually go out with Hayley, so she's a massive part of the team. It's a huge added support for me, it makes a big difference. She's invaluable at reading races, it helps massively to bounce ideas off each other."

Where might his next big chance come from? Ziggy is entered in the John Smith's Cup at York but suffered a setback in winning at Haydock and is no certainty to make the race.

Ancient Times, who won the Scottish Sprint Cup when last seen, will "end up in a decent sprint handicap, either at Goodwood or York. He's quite fast on fast ground.

"The exciting three-year-old I've got is Chasing Aphrodite, who won first time out at Leicester and the form of that is working out well enough. We've always thought a bit about him. He's taken a bit of time to come to hand but he could step up, possibly not this year. So we've enough to get us excited about."

Given last week's success, Eustace can hope for more support when the yearling sales roll around in the autumn. Surely everyone wants to catch these hot, young trainers when they're on the rise? In the meantime, he thanks a bloodstock agent who has helped him reach this point.

"It takes quite a lot of guts to chuck an unproven trainer decent stock, so I must mention Hubie de Burgh. He's been a massive supporter of mine from the get-go. He bought Latin Lover for me. To be able to repay his belief in me is massive."

Eustace has had an excellent grounding in the game. Before taking over the licence, he spent time working for Lee Freedman, Peter Snowden, Chris Wall and Christophe Clement before a four-year spell as assistant to William Haggas, who was among the very first to congratulate him on Friday.

He's already made an impact. The Front Runner would back him to keep this good run going.

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday