Bay of plenty for Johnston

Fennell Bay ended trainer Mark Johnston's wait for a Royal Ascot winner as he grabbed victory in the dying strides of the King George V Stakes.

Johnston has sent now sent four winners of the handicap in the last 10 years with Fennell Bay joining Linas Selection (2006), Fantastic Love (2003) and Systematic (2002) on the roll of honour.

Godolphin fielded three in the race, Anomaly, Samba King and Handsome Man, and the trio were prominent throughout, lining up in front at the top of the straight.

While the first two began to fade, Harry Bentley was getting a great tune out of Handsome Man and he looked to have stolen it when hitting the front.

However, Fennell Bay (12-1) was just hitting top gear for Joe Fanning and he came flying down the middle of the track to just edge it by a neck in a tight finish.

Handsome Man hung on for second with Rougemont a further neck back in third and Anomaly clinging on to fourth.

Johnston said: "It gets more of a relief every time. It was beginning to look like a blank week so it's fantastic to get one in the bag.

"I'm delighted for Joe Fanning, nobody deserves it more. If he's not the best jockey in Britain he's certainly the most underrated. It was a fantastic ride from a bad draw.

"We didn't really think the horse would get the trip, but he was given a brilliant ride."

Fanning said: "It's grand. He won well.

"We were worried about the trip today. He was just doing a bit much coming down the hill but when I turned in I had a lot of horse underneath me and he stayed on well.

"It's nice to come down and have a winner."