A horse co-owned by an Andover man has triumphed at Royal Ascot.
Quai De Bethune, at 12/1 odds, and co-owned by Gary Gillies from Andover, claimed victory in the Golden Gates Stakes on Saturday, marking Oisin Murphy's fifth handicap win of the meeting.
Murphy, the jockey, gave a strong finish, just beating the 11/4 favourite, Seraph Gabriel.
French competitor Best Secret took third place.
The win marks the fourth victory at the meeting for Andrew Balding, the trainer.
He said: "I am very pleased. We have had this race in mind for Quai De Bethune for a good while now, but you need everything to go right.
"He was given an outstanding ride and we just got the margins at the end of the race."
Gillies shared his delight. He said: "Amazing, absolutely amazing. Weirdly last night, someone came in and offered to buy him. We were close, but we said no and now we are here – what a feeling.
"It does not get any better than this, and to have a winner here is special.
"After yesterday's disappointment, it was my chance today to get a Royal Ascot winner and I did not want to wait until next year."
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The race results were as follows: Quai De Bethune with Gary Gillies and Team Valor, trained by Andrew Balding, and ridden by Oisin Murphy, claimed first place at 12/1.
Seraph Gabriel, owned by Marcstown Ltd, trained by Ralph Beckett and ridden by Rossa Ryan, came in second at 11/4F.
Best Secret, owned by Wathnan Racing, trained by Stephane Wattel, and ridden by James Doyle, took third place at 4/1.
There were 15 participants in the race.
This win marks Andrew Balding's 15th Royal Ascot winner and Oisin Murphy's 20th Royal Ascot winner.
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