'Royal Ascot is close to Kia's heart; he's had two winners there already and I'd love to give him another'

It is a bright, blustery summer's day at Brighton and life is good. It is good if you are a tripper enjoying a Mr Whippy, a chocolate flake and an afternoon at the races; even better if you happen to be David Egan, who has just ridden London Boy to victory in the purple silks that have become his unmissable uniform since he was named retained rider to Amo Racing.

In truth, the win is only what economic logic might have told you to expect, given that London Boy cost markedly more than the other four runners put together, but Egan did his job for the organisation with a minimum of fuss, brought London Boy home a reassuring length clear of the field, and then walked away with his saddle, his whip and the reassuring thought that at 300,000gns from Tattersalls Book 2 last year, this latest winner counted as something of a snip in the context of the spending spree that Amo have been on.

In the region of £62 million is the fully catalogued figure spent by football agent Kia Joorabchian and his associates at the sales last year, with London Boy's price being utterly dwarfed by the 4,800,000gns splashed out for the classy filly You Got To Me, along with the £4.62m Frankel filly Partying and the £4.51m Wootton Bassett colt Poker, who topped the list of half a dozen seven-figure yearlings.