Twilight Son by a neck in Diamond Jubilee Stakes

Twilight Son won the second Group 1 race of his career and gave jockey Ryan Moore his third stakes win on the card Saturday with a narrow victory in the $861,720 Diamond Jubilee Stakes on the fifth and final day of the Royal Ascot meeting.

Twilight Son (7-2) won the six-furlong race by a neck over 7-1 Gold Fun, who finished a nose in front of 25-1 Signs of Blessing. Magical Memory, the 3-1 favorite, finished fourth in the field of nine, beaten a half-length.

Undrafted, the winner of the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland in April and the 2015 Diamond Jubilee Stakes, finished sixth, beaten 2 3/4 lengths.

Moore, who won the first two races on the six-race Royal Ascot program on Saturday, kept Twilight Son behind the pace for the first half-mile. Twilight Son moved into second with a furlong to go and took the lead in the final sixteenth before scoring the narrow win.

“I always felt that when I was going to ask him, he was going to win,” Moore said.

Moore was the leading rider of the Royal Ascot meeting.

A 4-year-old colt by Kyllachy, Twilight Son is trained by Henry Candy for Godfrey Wilson and Cheveley Park Stud. Twilight Son was the first winner at Royal Ascot since 1979 for Candy, who began training in 1973.

Twilight Son’s recent preparation was not without a mishap. Candy took Twilight Son to Newbury Racecourse, west of London, for a workout that did not go according to plan. Twilight Son unseated his exercise rider and ran off before being caught. Eventually, the scheduled workout was completed that day.

Twilight Son has won 6 of 8 starts. He won his first five starts, including the Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock Park last September. Twilight Son was second in the Group 1 British Champions Sprint at Ascot last October. In his first start this year, Twilight Son was fifth behind Magical Memory in the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes at York on May 11.