RACING/ Royal Ascot: On a blisteringly warm opening afternoon the only air to emerge at Ascot yesterday seemed to leak from the patched up balloon that is Hawk Wing's reputation.

Of course we have been here before when everything from bad draws to bad ground to bad luck has been used to excuse a magnificent looking racehorse with a blatant glass chin.

Sure enough possible explanations started to flow almost before Hawk Wing struggled past the Queen Anne Stakes winning post barely within shouting distance of the winner Dubai Destination. They ranged from the wishful to the much more concrete evidence of the Irish horse being lame on a front leg after a veterinary examination.

But for a colt with such persistent claims to greatness, the bare evidence is that Hawk Wing keeps getting beat much more than a real top-notcher should.

Yesterday should have been ideal. A straight mile to compare to Newbury's where Hawk Wing gave his followers a confidence injection just a month before, the fast ground that Aidan O'Brien has always insisted he needs and a guaranteed pace to rule out messing. And it was ideal: It's just that the result wasn't.

Unless of course you were Frankie Dettori, Sheikh Mohammed or a member of the Godolphin team who have been forced to keep "shtum" through the classic campaign, biting their tongue until they could unleash their battalion of older horses.

Hawk Wing back in seventh may have been only barely within shouting distance but Dettori's obvious joy and relief meant if the favourite heard any voice, it was the Italian's.

"Full credit to Hawk Wing for a great performance at Newbury but if you're going to rate him 141, then my horse should be 161," Dettori declared. "It was obscene. Circumstances at Newbury made him look a lot better than he actually is. He was looking to get out today and I let him out. I said if you want a fight you'll have a fight. But he died straight away. You need a good engine and a will to win, and my horse has a will to win," he added.

It has been a tortuous route for Dubai Destination since his remarkable juvenile-year success over Rock Of Gibraltar, with a near-fore injury marring any progress over the past year.

"We have had all sorts of problems with him and it has been very much a question of giving him plenty of time," said Sheikh Mohammed. Luckily, we were able to give him a long time in the winter in Dubai and now he has got over all his problems. We never thought about retiring him."

Dettori's comments were pointed, but it won't put Aidan O'Brien off a re-match if circumstances allow him another crack with Hawk Wing. "He was only a shadow of the horse he can be," said the Ballydoyle trainer. "The vets found him lame in front which is one of his problems and he has had problems since last year with his shoulders and hind-quarters. We will have to get them sorted out but I think with time we can get him back."

It wasn't a particularly memorable day all round for O'Brien with Hold That Tiger emerging best of his trio in fourth in the St James's Palace Stakes. He was well behind the winner Zafeen who bounced back from a dire effort in the Irish 2,000 Guineas to beat the unlucky favourite Kalaman by a length.

Johnny Murtagh had earlier secured himself a piece of history by partnering the Australian sprinter Choisir to a unique success in the Kings Stand Stakes but he was badly out of luck on Kalaman. The former Irish champion went for a gap inside Indian Haven who was promptly bumped right on to Kalaman by the drifting Monsieur Bond.

The latter's rider Paul Scallan later got a three-day ban for careless riding but that was scant consolation to Kalaman's supporters.

Zafeen's trainer, Mick Channon, said: "I've had enough bad luck myself recently! But when my horse kicked at the two furlong pole it would have taken some good one to catch him."

A very good one indeed appeared to burst on the scene in the Coventry Stakes as Three Valleys stormed to an eight-length success that was enough for some bookmakers to make him a 12 to 1 favourite for next year's 2,000 Guineas. "I wouldn't mind but he wasn't doing a stroke," exclaimed rider Richard Hughes who later doubled up in the Balmoral Handicap aboard another Roger Charlton-trained horse, Deportivo.

Charlton was more understated but even he was moved to say: "It's the kind of performance that makes the long winters worthwhile."