Profitable scores in King's Stand

Profitable was made to work hard for his victory in the King's Stand Stakes on the opening day of Royal Ascot.

Clive Cox's sprinter travelled well throughout the Group One feature but the testing ground conditions meant that Adam Kirby had to push his mount hard to get the better of Cotai Glory.

Just a neck separated the pair at the finish line with Goken a further length back in third.

"I think he's the best five-furlong horse I've ever ridden. His cruising speed is phenomenal. I'm delighted for everyone involved, but, more importantly, I'm delighted for Clive. My girlfriend gave birth to a baby boy a few hours ago, so it's all good," an emotional Kirby told Channel 4 Racing.

Earlier, Tepin timed her run brilliantly to claim the Queen Anne Stakes, the opening race on the card.

The American mare adapted well to the rain-softened ground as she lead the field that raced closer to the stands side.

Barchan set a furious gallop in the hope of shaking off the majority of the field and it seemed to work as Belardo and Tepin emerged to battle it out inside the final two furlongs.

Tepin, however, found most under Julien Leparoux and crossed the line a half a length ahead of her rival.

"It's just amazing. It's a great feeling," the winning jockey said. "She's a champion and she proved it today.

"She had to work hard, for sure, as the last 100 metres was a long way to go.

"It's awesome."

Trainer Robert Casse added: "The mare is the best thing in the world - she's fantastic.

"People say Americans have to have drugs in their horses. She had no drugs and no nasal strip, the things everyone was worried about.

"The biggest thing we were worried about was the ground. She'd won on soft but we didn't know how bad the ground was.

"She performed magnificently. She had a lot of things to overcome for the first time, but she just did it."