By Francis Keogh

A sideways look back at five of the highs and lows from the Royal Ascot at York meeting.

THE HIGHS

The racing
There really was plenty to set the pulse racing, even as showers disrupted the opening two days.

Shamardal, Valixir and Westerner produced performances worthy of any Royal Ascot meeting.

Something to look forward to
Barely was the meeting finished, when we were looking ahead to some stirring races to savour over the summer.

The Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on 2 July, and the King George at Newbury three weeks later look like crackers.

Mick Kinane
At an age where many men are spending their sunny days down at B&Q, the veteran Irish jockey was booting home six winners at the Royal meeting.

That's 25 per cent of winners who had Kinane on their back. His Ballydoyle successors Jamie Spencer and Kieren Fallon managed two between them.

Ticket touts
There is little as satisfying a sight as seeing ticket touts with eggs on their face.

With southern uptake for the meeting below expectations, the buy or sell merchants were struggling to shift �50 grandstand tickets for �10 on Friday. Shame.

Communal singing
The traditional end-of-race singalong had some added edge this year with some good-natured Yorkshire booing of Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner.

Cheeky Cockneys tried to get their own back by turning On Ilkley Moor Baht 'at into I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside.

THE LOWS

The track
Whatever the reasons, the weather chief among them, the slippery track and some questionable going reports did not make for happy viewing.

Officials were forced to put sand on the circuit, making the premium summer meeting look like an all-weather fixture at times.

Godolphin
No-one should be allowed to do the Okey Cokey at Royal Ascot until the racing's over.

But it was in, out, in out, shake it all about, as the boys in blue dithered over whether to run Dubawi or Shamardal. Not helpful for the paying punters.

Ignorance
There really was some almighty tosh written and spoken about the success of the meeting or otherwise.

Much of it lies at the hands of blinkered southern journalists, whose binoculars can't see much beyond the M25. Shoddy work.

Men in women's hats
What's that all about? You've had a few glasses of bubbly, and suddenly you're entitled to wear a ladies' hat with your nice navy suit.

I don't think so. It's not big (well, the hat might be), and it's not clever. Top hats are allowed, but only if you went to a private school.

Tall story
Most surreal moment of the week comes from a late-night York venue called The Gallery.

A man too short to be a jockey - yes, he was tiny - could be spotted breakdancing directly behind a nubile young lady dancer.

Perhaps there should have been a bar stewards' inquiry?