Dream team: Dettori and Stoute at it again as Sangarius lands Hampton Court

It was a case of deja vu in the Hampton Court Stakes. The potent partnership of Frankie Dettori and Sir Michael Stoute were on the Royal Ascot scoresheet once again with Sangarius.

Few jockeys are more effective at this track than Dettori and, with a customary race-winning move through the middle of the field, few expected him to relent once he had drawn clear.

After combining to land the Prince of Wales's Stakes with Crystal Ocean on Wednesday, there was a familiar scene in the winner's enclosure. The jockey's trademark flying dismount was followed by yet another attempt by the 48-year-old to kiss Stoute on the cheek.

"We better stick with Frankie. He's getting pretty old but we'll hang in there," said the trainer, who was recording his third victory in the Group 3. "We've always loved Sangarius, he's progressive. He did well there and is improving all the time."

The signs were there on Tuesday. The son of Kingman finished third behind St James's Palace Stakes runner-up King Of Comedy at Sandown last month but was sent off a relatively untouched 13-2, finishing two and a quarter lengths clear of Fox Chairman, with King Ottokar in third.

Frankie Dettori in the winner's enclosure at Royal AscotCredit: Edward Whitaker

However, it was not all plain sailing for Sangarius, who struggled for racing room in the straight, and Dettori said: "It was a great performance. He had to fight for a small gap and then I saw daylight, which is very unusual at Royal Ascot, and I pushed him out to the line."

Three of the last five winners went on to triumph at Group 1 level but Stoute, renowned for bringing horses along gently, has not committed to a future target and Khalid Abdullah's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe thought it unlikely Sangarius will step up in class and be thrown in at the deep end on his next start.

Runner-up Fox Chairman suffered interference early on when he was squeezed up leaving the stalls, but despite making good ground late under Silvestre de Sousa he was no match for the winner.

Frankie Dettori performs his flying dismount after winning on Sangarius at Royal AscotCredit: Edward Whitaker

"Take nothing away from the winner but we might have finished a bit closer with a clearer run," said trainer Andrew Balding. "It's only his third start and he's obviously a very nice horse in the making."

It was a similar story for Charlie Fellowes. The trainer confessed to doing a rain dance for his runner on Wednesday but was left ruing the way the race panned out, rather than the ground, for King Ottokar, who finished a neck behind the runner-up.

"You look at where the winner and second have come from and it's not worked out," he said. "The jockey's done nothing wrong, we just couldn't get in, and ended up being three wide out the back.

"He's covered more ground than any other horse in the field and it just hasn't worked out – which is a shame as he's run a massive race and there's loads of positives to take out.

"This was our Derby but it was just not his day so we'll get him back home and see where we go from there."

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