Father and son training partnership John and Thady Gosden celebrated a big race double on the second day of Royal Ascot on Wednesday, with Ombudsman landing the Group One Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

The Royal Procession was marked by the absence of Catherine, Princess of Wales, but had a literary flavour, with two giants of the written word, William Boyd and Robert Harris, in the cortege along with their wives.

The day’s racing provided as many exciting finishes as the climaxes to their best selling books. Ombudsman’s jockey William Buick held his nerve when he tried to find an opening as the race reached its climax, blocked by a wall of horses. However, the Norway-born jockey found a way round and then stormed clear to give the Gosden stable a sixth win in the race. Buick, 36, having had a tough time, released his pent-up emotions, punching the air in delight as he passed the post. “It has been a difficult few days,” said Buick. “I have got a little bit of experience so I try and stay level, I have a lot of good rides.”You look forward, right?”

John Gosden, for whom it was a 70th Royal Ascot winner, said Buick had been “patient and rewarded”. Earlier the Gosdens had enjoyed a record-extending sixth win in the Group Two Duke of Cambridge Stakes.

Australia-based New Zealander jockey James McDonald swooped to win on Crimson Advocate. “Absolutely delighted, pleasure to ride a winner for the group [the Emir of Qatar’s Wathnan Racing for whom it was their third winner of this year’s edition],” said MacDonald, recording his fifth Royal Ascot winner. “I am very lucky to be jogging on the right spot at the right time. “Even when you do not have a fancied horse in a race here, it is a very special, elegant, and graceful place to ride.”