Limato owner: this is the best July Cup in my living memory – and I'm 71

If the preamble to Royal Ascot told us anything, it was that Paul Jacobs is very much his own man. Limato's owner gave a frank account to the Racing Post of the horse's abortive trip to Dubai in March, when heavy rain saturated the track to the detriment of the horse's chance in the Al Quoz Sprint. To make matters worse, the five-year-old was ailing badly on his return to Britain.

"Physically he had some enzyme problems and mentally he wasn't the same," Jacobs reflects. "He was quieter than he's ever been since I've known him. At one time I seriously wondered whether we would ever get him back."

Yet Limato did come back. He finished a close-up third in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, which should have honed him for his defence of the Darley July Cup he won 12 months ago. All's well that ends well – except there are still some loose ends.