Royalists and favourite-backers were united in hope as Dartmouth led into the final furlong of the Hardwicke Stakes but the Queen’s horse proved unable to repeat last year’s success on the final day of Royal Ascot. Despite the urgings of Ryan Moore, who ended the week as top jockey after winning six other races, Dartmouth was overwhelmed by late challengers and finished fourth behind Idaho, an emergent star.

“It was a game run,” said Sir Michael Stoute, trainer of Dartmouth. “I thought it was looking good until it got really serious. But there you are, he wasn’t good enough on the day.”

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It is the kind of admission that trainers make in order to avoid seeming like bad sports, but Dartmouth would surely have been good enough in different circumstances, if the ground had had some give or if the early pace had been weaker. Moore declined to make excuses, insisting his mount had run a very good race.

Time might show the form to be stronger than it now appears. Idaho is not yet a big name but is related to one, being a full brother to Highland Reel, winner of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes here on Wednesday and the biggest earner of prize money that Aidan O’Brien has trained.

The pair have quite a bit in common, being prone to sweat up in the paddock before a race, which can put a punter off if they have not seen it before; O’Brien says he would worry if they did not do it. Both seem to love a fast surface and both seem durable and hard to beat. Idaho sat a lot closer to the early pace than the placed horses, Barsanti and Chemical Charge, but never looked like wilting as the other prominent racers did.

“They don’t know when to give up or stop improving,” O’Brien said of the pair. It is asking a lot for Idaho to top the £6m won by Highland Reel but in a sense he is already one up on his brother, who was outbattled by Dartmouth in last year’s Hardwicke.

Idaho lined up as a supposed good thing in the St Leger last year but blew his chance two furlongs out when he stumbled and unseated Seamie Heffernan. There are undoubtedly many punters who were on Idaho in September and then on Darmouth here and Britain’s betting shops surely rang with ripe language as the horse who cost them in autumn came and did them again in the summer. Racing can be cruel to those who fund it.

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“What happened in the Leger last year, you couldn’t believe it, could you?” O’Brien said. “It was the damnedest thing of all. He was coming down the straight hard on the bridle.”

Asked about plans for Idaho, the trainer said: “He can do plenty of travelling. We’ll test him this year. He’ll be busy.” That could mean trips to the US and then Australia in the autumn. Highland Reel could have similar races on his agenda but will first try to win the King George here next month for a second time.

It seems eons since Tuesday, when all nine of O’Brien’s runners were beaten and there were the beginnings of doubt about his stable form. He was delighted, though, with what became a productive week and reported that Friday’s star, Caravaggio, to have taken his race well enough to raise hope he might be back for the July Cup at Newmarket.

More immediately, O’Brien has five possible runners in next Saturday’s Irish Derby, led by the winner of the Epsom equivalent, Wings Of Eagles. Asked if the unsung Padraig Beggy would keep that ride, O’Brien said plans would have to wait but added: “Ryan rides all our first strings,” which seems to leave no room for doubt.

The Tin Man confirmed his status as an Ascot specialist by landing the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, having also won here on Champions’ Day in October. He bumped the eventual third, Limato, and had to survive a stewards’ inquiry but did so to provide a high point in the season for his trainer/jockey combination of James Fanshawe and Tom Queally.

“That was a huge relief,” said Fanshawe, “because he shows you absolutely nothing at home, unless he ducks out at a leaf on the way home or something like that. But he’s the best older sprinter, he’s proved that twice now.”

The Tin Man was the nickname given by his peers to the 19th-century jockey Fred Archer, who built the Newmarket yard where Fanshawe is now based. “When I used to drink, I used to meet up with Fred quite a lot in the evening,” the trainer said, joking. “But I don’t see him much now because he doesn’t like coffee.”

Post-race presentations here generally have a reserved quality but there was a single moment of unquenchable ebulliance when Arthur Gilbert, a primary school-age grandson of one of The Tin Man’s owners, received a trophy from the Queen and immediately held it aloft, Formula One-style, grinning wildly. The crowd approved.

Tips for Sunday races

Hexham

1.50 Towering 2.20 For Yes 2.50 Symphony Of Angels 3.20 Heist 3.50 Tell The Tale 4.20 Miss Joeking 4.50 Morning Time Pontefract

2.00 Clubbable 2.30 Count Simon (nb) 3.00 Niblawi 3.30 Yorkidding 4.00 Frederic (nap) 4.30 Alpine Dream 5.00 Halawain Worcester

2.10 Ballinure 2.40 Dragon De La Tour 3.10 Marquis Of Carabas 3.40 Rene’s Girl 4.10 Sailors Warn 4.40 Weld Arab 5.10 Polly’s Pursuit