The owner, trainer and jockey of Animal Kingdom, Saturdays winner of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs were all presented with Longines watches as part of the winning prize.

Winning connections were delighted to see the 20-1 shot Animal Kingdom romp home after running in mid division for most of the race and then coming from off the pace at the 200 yard line, crossing the winning line in front by almost 3 lengths.

The stunning silver and 18 carat gold trophy along with the $1,411,800 (£860,000) first place prize money was presented to winning connections along with Longines Column Wheel Automatic Chronograph watches.

Longines were also the official timekeeper of the event which was the 137th running of the race and one of the biggest in the racing calendar and timed the one and a quarter mile race at 2 minutes and 2.04 seconds.

According to the Sun yesterday, Tottenham Hotspur Croatian football player Vedran Corluka swapped watches with a nightclub waiter after the waiter complimented him about his watch.

The player was on a night out at the London nightclub Whisky Mist when the waited commented on his diamond encrusted Hublot watch, when Corluka, whose nickname is ‘Charlie’, then took the watch off and handed it over to the surprised waiter.

A club spokesman from Tottenham confirmed that the Premier League player aged 25, who joined Tottenham in 2008 for a fee in excess of £5 Million told the waiter, ‘Let’s swap’ after receiving the compliment and then exchanged watches with the waiter who at first thought it was a joke.

It is reported that the watch was a diamond encrusted Hublot which was worth around about £36,000, whilst the waiters watch was a mere Seiko worth around £100 !