There will be few more popular winners at Royal Ascot this week than Desert Hero should he register victory at the meeting for a second successive year in Saturday's Hardwicke Stakes.
The William Haggas-trained chestnut brought the house down 12 months ago when providing the King and Queen with their first taste of Royal Ascot success after coming out on top in a pulsating renewal of the King George V Stakes.
Desert Hero went on to win the Gordon Stakes before having to make do with minor honours in third when bidding to emulate Dunfermline, who 46 years earlier had provided the late Queen Elizabeth II with the last of her five British Classic wins in the St Leger.
Having been gelded during the winter, the son of Sea The Stars was beaten only a head by Okeechobee on his Sandown reappearance – and while he disappointed behind the reopposing Middle Earth in the Aston Park Stakes at Newbury on his most recent outing, his big-race pilot Tom Marquand is eyeing another afternoon to remember at the Royal meeting.
Marquand said: "Hopefully he will give me another great day. He will enjoy the trip and the ground and hopefully he will get a smooth trip round and can show what he did last year.
"I haven't sat on him since Newbury, but I think his Sandown run (in the Gordon Richards Stakes) knocked him quite hard and it is hard to gauge sometimes how much a run takes out of a horse. I'm sure the team will have him in tip-top order.
"Last year was one of the highlights of my career and it will be tough to supersede that one, it was a special day to look back on, but hopefully there will be a few more. He needs the right trip round and a bit of luck, but hopefully he will get it."
Middle Earth, that is excellent!@oismurphy's charge lands the Aston Park Stakes with a stunning turn of foot against the rail…
— Sky Sports Racing (@SkySportsRacing) May 18, 2024
John and Thady Gosden's Middle Earth was recording his fourth win from seven career starts when scoring at Newbury last month and connections are optimistic of another bold showing this weekend.
"Roaring Lion (sire) has obviously had a winner already this week (with Running Lion) and if he could have another with Middle Earth that would be lovely," said David Redvers, racing manager to joint owners Qatar Racing.
"The horse is in great form apparently and Oisin (Murphy) thought he was probably one of his best chances of the week coming into it.
"The draw (eight of nine) isn't ideal, but it is what it is."
The likely favourite is Aidan O'Brien's St Leger hero Continuous, despite the fact he has not been seen in competitive action since finishing fifth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October.
"We're very happy with him and he's had two days away," O'Brien told Racing TV.
"We maybe didn't have the clearest run with him in the winter and the spring, but we're very happy with him. He'll improve from the run, but he is ready to win and he's a lovely, straightforward, honest horse.
"We think this is a lovely race to start him back in, but we do think he will really come forward from the run."
Decorated American handler John Sadler – most famous for training the unbeaten Breeders' Cup hero Flightline – will fulfil a racing ambition when Missed The Cut becomes his first ever runner at Royal Ascot.
The five-year-old was formerly a high-class operator on these shores for George Boughey, winning previously at the Royal meeting before making the move to America, where he has thrived for the California climate, winning multiple Group races at Santa Anita.
Sadler said: "The horse is doing well, he's been in Lambourn with Ed Walker. This will be a first for me and I've won internationally before, I've won in Dubai and won Breeders' Cups and my last trip here was to pick up the Longines award with Flightline.
"We had such a good trip to London last time, I said it would be fun to run a horse at Royal Ascot and we have the right horse with the right ownership group. A lot of things fell in line that meant it looked like a fun thing to do.
"We tried to make Missed The Cut a little bit of a dirt horse last year, but he wasn't at his best, so now we have put him back on turf and has run four really nice races this year. You can see on his form he has no problem with American distances and has run over a mile and a half over there many times.
"We know he can run this trip and another thing that is lovely this week is the weather is gorgeous.
"He has won at this meeting before and little things like that makes us think he fits the bill and would be a good candidate to come and give it a try. With all due respect, when you are racing against Aidan O'Brien and John Gosden, my old California teammate, we know how tough these races are but we have our fingers crossed."
Further strength in depth is added by George Scott's stable star Isle Of Jura, who following a memorable winter hat-trick in Bahrain, made a successful return to Britain in Goodwood's Festival Stakes last month.
Of Isle Of Jura, Scott said: "Obviously he's been a star for us this year and although he's shown a good level form and a will to win, having won seven of his last nine starts, this is a big step up.
"He's bred to be a very good horse and has the physique of a very good horse and we're looking forward to the race.
"We're conscious of the step up in grade, but feel like now is the right time for it and he's earned his right in the field.
"He's proven himself on a right-handed track on very fast ground and that's what he's going to get on Saturday.
"It's rare you find horses with his will to win and I've no doubt that he has the ability to compete with these horses, it's just whether he's quite ready for it at this stage of his development. We'll find out on Saturday."
