Crystal clear that Frankie is still racing's shining star in deed and word

Well-brought-up racing children learn their numbers and how to count by the classic old system – evens, 6-4, 13-8, 2-1, 9-4 and 5-2.

Letters have always been trickier to thump into their tender craniums but it is very simple. In fact, as easy as ABCD: Ascot Big Card equals Dettori.

Time and again the ageing Sardine, 48 years young and an exasperating mix of the embraceable and infuriating, has illuminated Ascot like the Northern Lights on steroids and he was at it again on Wednesday, landing the Queen Mary on Raffle Prize for an unusually starstruck Mark Johnston and the main event, the Prince of Wales's Stakes, on Crystal Ocean for the greatest living Bajan Sir Michael Stoute.