No other result could have come anywhere close to matching what had already been witnessed, but when it comes to Frankie Dettori and Royal Ascot, nothing is impossible.
As if a first royal winner at the first Royal Ascot under the reign of King Charles wasn't enough for one day, Dettori delivered the undefeated Courage Mon Ami to win the Gold Cup (G1) by three-quarters of a length on just his fourth career start. If you hadn't witnessed it with your own eyes, you would never have believed it, but it happened.
In his last season riding, the world-famous jockey is enjoying the sort of farewell tour that would make a fantastic Carlsberg advert. His final rides in the Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and Oaks (G1) had already been successful and he seized the occasion once more to win a ninth Gold Cup to the satisfaction of a crowd who had way more than their money's worth.
"It's pretty emotional," said Dettori, who took daughter Tallulah and son Leo up to collect his trophy from the King and Queen. "Nine Gold Cups, what can you say? It's amazing and I'm speechless.
"The King is a lovely man and Camilla is lovely and it's an honor to win the Gold Cup and be presented with the trophy by them. It's a great thrill for my children, too. For the last 18 years, they've just thought I was a guy on the TV, maybe like Peppa Pig or something, but now they are old enough to understand and they really know what I'm doing."
His family will know better than anyone that when he's in the mood, nobody has more belief in Dettori than himself, but even he admitted it took a leap of considerable faith to expect Courage Mon Ami to win a Gold Cup with so little experience.
"I didn't expect it," said the 52-year-old. "The last five years I've had Stradivarius, so the pressure was on. This one I thought was a bit of a chancer coming from handicaps, but John Gosden is a great trainer and he does things like that. Sometimes, if I don't believe it, I'll just go along with it.
"I rode him cold and it just happened. I got the splits when I wanted and he showed a turn of foot. The last half a furlong, I couldn't get rid of Oisin [Murphy, rider of runner-up Coltrane] and I thought, 'No, we've got this far, please keep going.' "
Dettori added: "I wanted to ride him to run well, because I really don't know the horse and I didn't know his capability or if he was able to stay. I knew there would be pace and I wanted to swing out wide [in the straight], but Stephane Pasquier [on Big Call] kept me in and actually won me the race. I thought, 'I'll cut the corner and see what happens.' Then it happened."
It was an occasion made for Dettori. The crowd was buzzing after seeing Desert Hero win the King George V Stakes for the King and Queen, and the rider revealed he had received some inspiration from the royal couple before his final Gold Cup ride.
He said: "Myself, the King and Queen Camilla had a chat beforehand, talking about his win and my relationship with his mother, Queen Elizabeth, then the next race I go on and win the Gold Cup and he presents the trophy. It's amazing, just really amazing."
It was a fourth success in the race for Gosden but the first in partnership with his son Thady, without whom Courage Mon Ami, owned by Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri's Qatar-based Wathnan Racing, would never have been running in the Gold Cup.
"We didn't run him here for fun, but it was Thady and [racing secretary] Peter Shoemark's idea to enter him, not mine," said John Gosden. "He's quite mature at home but hasn't been easy to train. It was a superb performance and a great ride from Frankie. He saved every inch, slithered through, and showed his nerves are better than mine. He lets the crowd lift him, he's one of those who really responds to it."
After Dettori had delivered yet another big-race masterclass, the spotlight fell on whether the rider should really be calling it a day, but Gosden explained why his great friend had timed it perfectly once again.
"I think he's correct," said the trainer. "He's very clear that he wanted to go out at the top. There's nothing worse than seeing a boxer getting back in the ring too late in their career. He wanted to go out right at the top and that's where he is."
The John and Thady Gosden-trained 4-year-old gelding successfully negotiated a step up in class and grade. He is the first winner of the Gold Cup for the Gosden yard since Stradivarius completed a hat trick in 2020.
John Gosden said: "We didn't know if he'd stay—you can't practice 2 1/2 miles at home—but Frankie stayed cool, kept him in the dark down on the inside and saved every inch. I saw he went to go outside in the straight and they all said no, go back in, but luckily he managed to wriggle through.
"It's a great ride for Frankie and it crowns his week."
WHAT A RACE! @FrankieDettori wins the Gold Cup aboard Courage Mon Ami! #RoyalAscot 🏆 pic.twitter.com/dOcUjboc4w
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 22, 2023
Emotions for Gosden and Dettori were very different 12 months ago as, after the defeat of Stradivarius, the trainer blamed his jockey for "overcomplicating" the ride. He finished an unlucky third behind Kyprios.
The comments led to a short break of the successful Gosden-Dettori combination before the parties teamed up again a few months later.
Gosden added: "We had one argument in 30 years but we patched it all up after five days and won group 1s straight away in Deauville. We had a disagreement; that's fine and that's professional but we kicked on with life. Look at the result here."
The winner paid $19.90 in the U.S. wagering pool. The 2021 Gold Cup winner Subjectivist finished third, with Emily Dickinson fourth.
