33-1 Triple Time digs in to deny Inspiral and Dettori in the Queen Anne Stakes

If only they had told us before! Kevin Ryan and Neil Callan have been around the block enough times to know a good horse when they see one and both men were confident that was exactly what Triple Time was heading into the Queen Anne Stakes.

In fact Callan let the cat out of the bag that Ryan rates the son of Frankel as the best he has ever trained. The only problem for those of us looking on was that his confession came after Triple Time had edged out Inspiral at 33-1 rather than before.

Callan, a rider who by his own account wears his heart on his sleeve, certainly enjoyed playing the panto villain as he denied Frankie Dettori on Inspiral the perfect start to the Italian's final Royal Ascot and did not hold back on the celebrations.

"When I saw him in the paddock I thought phwoar, he's primed for today," said Callan. "The one thing Kevin has always said is that this is the best horse he's ever trained – the best!

"It's a big call to make because Kevin has had a lot of good horses, but he believed in this horse. Umar [Muhammad], who rides him out every day, said to me in the chute before we went out, 'ride him like his dad in the Guineas, jump and let him roll'.

"When I got to the two-and-a-half-furlong pole and let him roll, I thought it's going to take a good one to catch us. He was fighting to the line for me."

Asked if he had ever enjoyed a winner more, considering the delight with which he repeatedly punched the air after the line, Callan added: "There's been plenty [of big wins] but when you come to Royal Ascot, it's just different class."

Neil Callan celebrates Triple Time's Queen Anne winCredit: Alan Crowhurst

It was undoubtedly a fine training performance by Callan's long-term ally Ryan, who had Triple Time at the top of his game on his first start for 262 days and after plans to run in last month's Lockinge were shelved only on the day of the race when Triple Time was withdrawn at Newbury.

"We knew he was in great shape and always had great faith in the horse," said Ryan. "Sheikh Mohammed Obaid has been very patient. Unfortunately he got a little bit of a stomach cramp just before the Lockinge and we had to take him out of the race. These good horses give you grey hairs at time.

"He's only had one ordinary run [in his career] and that was in France on hock-deep ground. Hopefully we'll have a full season with him but he's got his Group 1. I'm delighted for all my team, Sheikh Mohammed Obaid and Umar, who does everything with this horse at home and is integral to what this horse has done."

Asked if it were true that he rates Triple Time as highly as Callan had said, Ryan added: "He's up there and he's very good. He's got a massive stride and has to use it. As long as you can just get him to control that over the first two furlongs, the rest of the race is fine, and I was pretty relaxed after the first two furlongs today. We've got some important horses still to run but we can enjoy the week now and it shows the wellbeing of the horses as well."

Triple Time finds more ahead of Inspiral in a thrilling Queen AnneCredit: Mark Cranham

Dettori, whose power over his people at Ascot was evident as he briefly hit the front on Inspiral to the delight of the crowd, could offer no excuses for the runner-up, who went down by only a neck on her first start for 248 days.

"It was a super run," said the rider. "I got there and then Neil got it back – it's as simple as that, but it was a super run."

Inspiral's joint-trainer John Gosden was similarly satisfied and keen to focus on the positives. "I couldn't be more pleased with her," he said. "She switched off and did everything right. The first two are very nice horses and there were a lot of nice ones behind them. I'm happy with her and we'll look at races like the Sussex Stakes and Jacques le Marois, which she won at Deauville last year.

"She's back on song, which is the main thing. It was a very nice run and she'll come on for that. It's not often you come into a Group 1 and say that, but she will and she's run a lovely race."

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