By Jonathan McEvoy for the Daily Mail
Published: 22:55 BST, 18 June 2019 | Updated: 22:55 BST, 18 June 2019
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Not many of us getting our hats soaked at Royal Ascot knew that we couldn’t lose come what may. But one man who did was a walking miracle who had flown here from the bottom of the world.
He was Michael Pitman, an affable trainer from Christchurch, New Zealand, and he fought back tears as he recounted how much he had enjoyed watching his gelding Enzo’s Lad finish plumb last in the King’s Stand Stakes.
Pitman has defied injury, illness and tragedy to reach Berkshire, and the age of 64, and he was determined to treat on Tuesday as a triumph over all life had thrown at him.
Michael Pitman enjoyed watching his gelding Enzo’s Lad finish plumb last on Tuesday
The reason for the tears? His youngest son Jonny, suffering depression, took his own life in 2013. He was 28. Enzo’s Lad, a 66-1 outsider, carried silks with the letter ‘J’ in his memory.
Pitman’s career as a trainer nearly ended before it was out of the stalls: he was hit by a car and needed his left leg amputating below the knee.
‘The accident was within three or four months of starting out,’ he said. ‘I was 22 at the time and stayed in
