'If he stays, he wins' - Michael Tabor makes a bold Gold Cup prediction but on day two it's the Gosdens who again have the sizzling star

With a saddle under one arm, and immaculately dressed in his tailcoat and top hat, Thady Gosden defied the sweltering heat by running across Ascot's paddock, his long stride eating up the manicured turf. Given the oppressive conditions, it was a most impressive display. Even more striking was the subsequent performance of the Godolphin-owned horse Gosden had been rushing to saddle.

Ascot has been hot and is set to get hotter, with the BBC forecasting a Saturday high of 31C and a 'feel like' temperature of 33C. Although not quite that steamy for act two of the royal meeting, it was enough to cause an elderly lady in a polka dot dress to faint following the afternoon's third race, in which Gosden and his father John had just notched their third winner of the week. 

"It's the heat, I think," said the lady's companion as two men wearing brightly coloured uniforms that bore the words 'Emergency Response Team' helped her into a wheelchair. Not long after that, the heavily backed Los Angeles looked similarly affected by the heat as he walked around at the start of the Prince of Wales's Stakes, white sweat flowing liberally below his saddlecloth. In the circumstances, it was commendable of him to race so hard and fast from the start. At the other end of the Group 1 showpiece, it was the tremendously exciting Ombudsman who burned up the track.