The two most recognisable faces of British racing are undoubtedly Frankie Dettori and John McCririck and both were to the fore on the second day of Royal Ascot.

In McCririck’s case, the cause was the mystery thieving of his personal pile of the day’s newspapers, an act that provoked a scene of memorable fury from the hairy one.

As for Dettori, his day was dominated by talk of whether he had booked a holiday for next week. If all this seems remote from the racing action, you misjudge the profile of the characters involved.

By the time he discovered the loss of his precious papers - he reads every one from cover to cover - Big Mac had been promoting Ascot, and racing, on every breakfast TV and radio show imaginable. Love him or hate him, he is box office for his sport.

Dettori, of course, does much of his talking on the track and had continued a golden run, that includes three recent classics, when winning the first-day feature on Ramonti. In doing so, though, he used his whip with such frequency that the stewards referred the case to the central disciplinary panel of the Horseracing Regulatory Authority.

This became yesterday’s drama once it was established that the HRA wanted to schedule the hearing for next Thursday. The punishment is likely to be a ten or 12-day ban, starting eight days after the inquiry. And that would rule Dettori out of the ride on the Derby winner, Authorized, when he returns at Sandown on July 7.

It is here that the holiday enters the story. Dettori is already serving a ban next week and has pleaded that he will be out of the country. The HRA, after due consideration, took his word and rescheduled the hearing a week later, thus freeing him for Authorized.

Had they stood firm, the ride would have passed to Jimmy Fortune, a capable and uncomplaining character. So it was fitting that Fortune dominated the second-day action with a treble of winners - a rare event at the royal meeting even if Dettori has done it three times!

Fortune’s first winner, on Tariq, came in the green colours of Authorized’s owners. He followed up on Nannina and Royal Oath for trainer John Gosden but, typically, had nothing exuberant to say on the subject. It’s not his style.

The group one race on the card, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, went to France through the impressive Manduro. Dettori drew a blank but today, in the Ascot Gold Cup, he partners Cherry Mix for his retaining stable, Godolphin. Adding to the day’s ironies, he had to give up his usual mount on Sergeant Cecil, and it has passed to Fortune.