Dubai: Without any exaggeration, Taghrooda could be one of the best three-year-old fillies we’ve seen in a long, long time. What she achieved at Ascot when winning the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday must surely rank as one of the greatest accomplishments.

Most racing fans will be prepared to categorically state that the master class she delivered while destroying her rivals, which included top horses like Telescope and Magician, proved that she is an extraordinary equine athlete.

It always takes something special to win a race like the King George and I think we must once again salute her owner Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, who opted to run her in the Ascot showpiece instead of attempting an Oaks double following her romp at Epsom.

Shaikh Hamdan is highly regarded as being one of the most astute judges of horses and his perceptiveness was vindicated when he directed her to Ascot, a decision that raised many eyebrows at the time, perhaps mainly because she was still a baby and had only run three races in her life.

But, having already made the decision to retire her at the end of the season, Shaikh Hamdan has opted to run Taghrooda in the best races in Europe, with the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe being her most likely final act.

Even representatives of the rival connections and the runner-up Telescope were moved to applaud the decision of Shaikh Hamdan to run Taghrooda in the King George, with the well-regarded doyen of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, Harry Herbert, offering praise.

“[We] were been beaten by an amazing filly. I think the winner is absolutely exceptional,” he said.

“It was a great training performance by John Gosden, while Shaikh Hamdan has been vindicated for changing plans. When you get beaten and you get beaten by a horse as good as this filly, you just have to applaud and avoid her in the future.”

Sport is a very serious and sometimes ruthless business and it’s rare to hear comments such as these, particularly from a fierce competitor such as Herbert. But you also have to raise your hat to the sportsman that he is. Herbert has proved that, while winning is everything, you sometimes have to take a step back, take stock of the situation and acknowledge that you have to concede victory to the better performer on the day.

And, on Saturday, there was only one outstanding performer at historic Ascot and that was the brilliant Taghrooda, and her wonderful jockey Paul Hanagan.

My only one regret is that Shaikh Hamdan was not at Ascot on the day to witness the standing ovation that his champion filly received from a crowd in excess of 27,500!