Aidan O'Brien may have been narrowly denied in the opening contest on day five at Royal Ascot, but it didn't take him long to find the winners' enclosure when the seemingly lesser-fancied Age Of King's (22/1) gained Jersey Stakes success.
The well-bred son of Kingman looked to have something to find on the majority of his form but seemingly took a massive step forward from his seasonal reappearance effort in the Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh last month.
Facile Haydock handicap winner Covey attempted another all-the-way success under Frankie Dettori but he soon appeared something of a sitting duck at the two-furlong marker. Wayne Lordan always looked content with his position tracking through Dettori and the pair struck the front with approximately a furlong and a half to run. Holloway Boy looked to mount his effort towards the far side but could never quite get on terms and Wayne Lordan clearly saved enough petrol as Age Of Kings battled on bravely to fend off the fast-finishing Zoology, who also started 22/1, in the closing stages.
Streets Of Gold (28/1) ran on nicely to grab third with Karl Burke's debut Chesham Stakes winner Holloway Boy taking the fourth spot.
O'Brien, who was enjoying his fourth winner of the week said: O'Brien said: "Age Of Kings tries hard. Wayne kept it uncomplicated and said he'd get a mile if we wanted. The Guineas was only his first run of the year, it was a very good run, and he came forward from that.
"We've had lots of placed horses [this week] and it is hard to have winners. I am so delighted for the lads. We came here for many years without having winners, so we know what it is like."
Jockey Wayne Lordan added: "Age Of Kings had good runs last year, then had a bit of a setback and his first run back this year was in the Irish Guineas. He finished eight lengths behind Paddington and obviously improved for it. He's a very straightforward horse who gets a mile well, so I just kept it simple. It is a track that you can jump [from the stalls] and go forward and keep going forward, and that's exactly what he did.
"At two he had a few runs and maybe got a bit weak, but he's come back and he's stepped forward nicely, even in his work. Aidan likes to throw plenty at it [O'Brien also ran The Antarctic, finished 13th] and I'm glad I was on this fella. I'll take a Royal Ascot winner any day."
James Ferguson, trainer of the runner-up Zoology said: "It was a super run. They went very hard and, in the mid-stage of the race, you just think he's struggling to keep up, but they've all come back and he's stayed on very well. It's a tough race this, and the fast ground certainly suited him.
"He is a horse that was massively overpriced. He has done absolutely nothing wrong and ran a super race in the Greenham when he obviously didn't like the ground. Back on a sounder surface, he's run an absolute belter of a race and I've got very high hopes for this horse. I think he could be a superstar."
On where the horse may go now, he added: "I think I'll get home and work that out a bit later, because now it looks like we are going to be stepping up to a mile, which I probably didn't think about before the race. It's a nice problem to have."
Oisin Murphy added: "Zoology got away well, travelled super behind Covey and the winner, and he stayed on very well to the line. It is likely we will go up to a mile now. That was a career-best by a long way, so I am very pleased."
Streets Of Gold's trainer Eve Johnson Houghton said: "He ran a blinder; I am absolutely thrilled with him. That's probably the hardest race he has run in and, on Timeform figures, that's probably the highest he's ever run to. He is in the Bunbury Cup, we might go there or we might try to find an easy race to win – we will see."
