Laura Pearson became just the fourth female jockey to ride a winner at Royal Ascot on a historic day at the meeting.
The 20-year-old also became the first female apprentice to achieve the feat, climbing aboard Lola Showgirl to prevail in the Kensington Palace Stakes.
Elsewhere, trainer Aidan O’Brien claimed the 75th winner of his Royal Ascot career, drawing level with the legendary Sir Henry Cecil on the magic mark courtesy of the excellent Love.
And, completely by coincidence, his old mate Frankie Dettori also won his 75th race at the royal festival, squiring Indie Angel home in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at a handsome 22/1.
Pearson followed in the footsteps of Gay Kelleway, Hayley Turner and Hollie Doyle by winning on Wednesday, guiding her David Loughnane trained horse home ahead of stablemate Ffion to notch a handy 12/1 winner.
She was naturally speechless after claiming the biggest victory of her young career to date.
“I don’t even know what to say. It’s just incredible. I knew she had a chance and was a strong contestant for my first Royal Ascot ride,” the 5lb claimer said.
“Hollie (Doyle) helps me so much, as well as Hayley (Turner), I can’t thank them enough for the amount of times they’ve given me a hand and it’s paid off.
“It’s just unimaginable, honestly, I dreamt of it but I never thought it would happen.”
Love Comes Easy for O’Brien
Aidan O’Brien took a massive gamble in not sending one of his prized assets, Love, out for a warm up run prior to the meeting.
But it paid off in fine style as his filly had extra gas in the tank to complete victory in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, holding off the challenge of Breeders’ Cup winner Audarya to win on her first start in nearly a year.
O’Brien admitted his gamble had paid off.
“It’s a bit of risk coming here first time out,” the Irishman said. “We knew she was ready to run but not cherry ripe. I thought we were a bit vulnerable to Armory [Love’s stablemate] because the conditions suited him and he’d had a run.”
Meanwhile, Ryan Moore – in the saddle for Love’s triumphs in the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks – was thrilled to be back on board the four-year-old.
“It’s great to have her back,” said Moore.
“She’s very tough and honest. It’s hard to win here first time out. She’ll improve for that.”
It was another good day at Ascot for Frankie Dettori, who matched the achievement of his regular training partner with a 75th win at the festival of his own.
He wasn’t given much of a chance by the bookmakers aboard John Gosden’s Indie Angel, however the Italian – as he so often does – got a tune out of the unheralded four-year-old to clinch the Duke of Cambridge Stakes.
The Irish trainer Gavin Cromwell remarkably hadn’t declared a runner at Royal Ascot before, and he watched on as his maiden entrant Quick Suzy claimed victory in the Queen Mary Stakes to ensure the warmest of welcomes to Berkshire.
And Chipotle provided the feelgood story of the day, winning the Windsor Castle Stakes at 22/1. He is owned by the Woodway 20 syndicate, created by Eve Johnson Houghton as a specialist in training two-year-olds.