Moore and Candy win Diamond Jubilee Twilight Son emerged victorious after a thrilling climax to the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. Henry Candy's charge was unbeaten after his first five starts last season, completing the tremendous run with victory in September's Sprint Cup at Haydock. He rounded off his campaign by chasing home champion sprinter Muhaarar at Ascot and having blown away the cobwebs with a run at York last month, he was a 7-2 chance for the main event on the final day of the showpiece meeting in Berkshire. Ryan Moore buried the four-year-old in the middle of the field for much of the six-furlong journey before launching his challenge with a furlong to run. French runner Signs Of Blessing, Hong Kong raider Gold-Fun and Charlie Hills-trained favourite Magical Memory were all in with a chance as the post loomed to set up a grandstand finish, but Twilight Son was in front where it mattered. Gold-Fun was just a neck away in second, with Signs Of Blessing third. Moore said: "I always felt when I was going to ask him he would go and win. "He travelled very strongly. When I rode him here last year (second to Muhaarar) he felt like a very good horse. "He has obviously taken a while to come to hand this year, but Mr Candy was very confident about him. "He's done very little wrong - he's only been beaten a a couple of times - and he's proved he's a high-class horse." The victory completed a treble on the afternoon for the brilliant jockey, but he was typically understated when asked what it meant to him. He added: "It would mean more to ride four!" Remarkably, it was a first Royal Ascot winner since 1979 for Candy. He said: "I never come here thinking I'm going to have a winner. We've been close a few times and it's marvellous to get the job done finally. "He (Twilight Son) is a strong character. After York I realised he needed a lot of work and I've been quite hard on him. "I think he was probably showing the results of that, but he certainly stayed on well enough. "At one stage I was thinking he was going to be third, but he really dug deep and the jockey on top dug deep." Trainer Richard Gibson said of Gold-Fun: "We've come a long way and from a professional point of view you are always happy when your horse runs his race. "It was tight and we've got no excuses to make. It wasn't quite our day but we're very satisfied with second place. "He's going back home. We have international races in December. He'll have a break and we'll try again in Hong Kong in December." Olivier Peslier, who steered Signs Of Blessing into third place, said: " I was very pleased with him. I think the form is very good." Charlie Hills said of fourth home Magical Memory: "He ran a great race. I think it was the ground that cost him. "Frankie (Dettori) is very confident about the July Cup."
