Charlie Appleby’s 2021 Derby and King George hero Adayar will face a maximum of seven rivals in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot on Wednesday.

The son of Frankel was brilliant in winning at Epsom and Ascot respectively a couple of years ago, but endured an interrupted four-year-old campaign last season, making it to the track on only two occasions.

Adayar readily dispatched of a couple of rivals on his Doncaster comeback before finishing second in the Champion Stakes – and proved his ability remains very much intact when beating subsequent Group One winner Anmaat in last month’s Gordon Richards Stakes at Newmarket.

The five-year-old disputes favouritism for the Group One feature on day two of the Royal meeting with Aidan O’Brien’s Luxembourg.

The Camelot colt is following a tried-and-tested route, having won the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on his most recent outing, his third win at Group One level.

He looks set to renew rivalry with Sir Michael Stoute’s Bay Bridge, who beat Adayar in the Champion Stakes in October and was only half a length behind Luxembourg in Ireland a few weeks ago.

O’Brien’s apparent second string Bolshoi Ballet, the William Haggas-trained pair of Dubai Honour and My Prospero, John and Thady Gosden’s Mostahdaf and Kenny McPeek’s American raider Classic Causeway complete the potential field.

The seven-race card gets under way with the Group Two Queen Mary Stakes, which has attracted 33 speedy juvenile fillies. Leading contenders include Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Born To Rock, Karl Burke’s Beautiful Diamond and Crimson Advocate, a trans-Atlantic challenger for George Weaver.

Joseph O’Brien appears to have a particularly strong hand in the other Group Two on the card – the Duke of Cambridge Stakes.

The Owning Hill handler is responsible for three of the 15 fillies still in contention, with ante-post favourite Jumbly joined by Goldana and Honey Girl.

John Gosden is hoping Laurel can show her true colours in the one-mile contest after disappointing against the boys in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

“I think she somewhat over-raced and was too fresh (in the Lockinge),” he told Sky Sports Racing.

“The Shadwell horse (Mutasaabeq) went a blistering gallop, she didn’t think that was fast enough and started taking Frankie on and naturally paid the price between the two and the one.

“I think having got that behind her now – that exuberance and that freshness – I hope she will run more of a race where she builds a rhythm and finishes strongly.

“She was a filly who was really immature as a two-year-old and only came to herself really late on. She’s a filly who I think has improved again between three and four and I’m hopeful of a big run.”

A total of 33 entries have been made for the Kensington Palace Fillies’ Handicap, while 61 have horses have stood their ground for the Royal Hunt Cup, with Migration heading the weights and the King’s Saga also in the mix.

Arrest, a Derby disappointment for the Gosdens, heads 22 contenders for the Queen’s Vase and 46 go forward for the concluding Windsor Castle Stakes.

John Gosden is pleased with Running Lion ahead of her tilt at the Prix de Diane, with 15 fillies heading to post at Chantilly on Sunday.

The daughter of Roaring Lion was withdrawn from the Betfred Oaks at Epsom after getting upset in the stalls and having watched stablemate Soul Sister storm to big-race glory on the Surrey Downs, she will now get another chance to secure her own Classic honours in the French edition this weekend.

Last year Nashwa exited stall two when winning the Diane for the Gosden team, but this time Running Lion will have to navigate a wide position in stall 12 as Oisin Murphy’s mount looks to replicate an impressive showing in the Pretty Polly at Newmarket earlier in the season.

However, Gosden – who trains in partnership with son Thady – is full of praise for the consistent filly who is the 11-4 favourite with Coral to land the spoils.

“She’s in great form and we’re really happy with her and her work has been great this year,” he told Sky Sports Racing.

“She’s a tough filly and she needs to be from stall 12. We’re very pleased with her going into the race.

“She’s very business-like, both in the mornings and her races and has shown nothing but a great mental attitude to her racing and has been very consistent.”

There is further UK representation in the form of Karl Burke’s Novakai, who was last seen finishing second to Soul Sister in the Musidora, while Aidan O’Brien and his son Joseph are represented by Never Ending Story and Caroline Street respectively.

Christopher Head’s impressive French Guineas winner Blue Rose Cen is the shortest-priced contender from the home contingent and will be joined in the line-up by likely pacemaker and stablemate Wise Girl.

Prix Saint-Alary winner Jannah Rose and the supplemented runner-up Elusive Princess, along with Andre Fabre’s unbeaten Pensee Du Jour are others from the home team with leading claims.

Canberra Legend and Deauville Legend look set to lead trainer James Ferguson’s small but select team into battle at Royal Ascot next week.

The Newmarket handler had Classic aspirations for Canberra Legend following his victory in the Feilden Stakes at Newmarket in April, but a disappointing run in last month’s Dante at York led to connections deciding against a tilt at Derby glory.

The Australia colt has instead been kept fresh for the Royal meeting, with the King Edward VII Stakes viewed as his most likely target.

“Canberra Legend showed his class in the Feilden and showed that the further he was going, the better he was going,” Ferguson told Sky Sports Racing.

“We’ve put a line through the Dante at York. He showed his inexperience, it was a big occasion, hopefully he’s grown up and learned from it.

“From the minute he went down to the start, I think we knew it was not going to be his day and we move on. We’ve taken him for an away-day at Chelmsford and he’s shown me all the right signs at home that we’ve got him back to where we were with the Feilden.

“He’ll be entered in the King Edward and the Hampton Court. We’re probably lining him up for the mile-and-a-half option to be honest and I’d say he’s going there with a real live chance.”

Deauville Legend was narrowly denied in the King George V Stakes at last year’s big meeting, after which he went on to win the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket and the Great Voltigeur at York before rounding off his campaign by finishing fourth in the Melbourne Cup.

The son of Sea The Stars is set to make his four-year-old debut in what looks a strong renewal of the Hardwicke Stakes, but Ferguson is pleased with his condition.

He added: “He’s in great order and we’re really looking forward to getting him back out.

“We’ve been very patient with him. We decided to give him a bit of a break after his international travel for the Melbourne Cup, where he ran very well on ground which went very soft and he probably didn’t stay the two miles with the weight he was given.

“He lost nothing in defeat and the way he won the Voltigeur shows that from the older horse category over a mile and a half, he’s one of the best around.

“He’ll be going to the Hardwicke, which is a hard place to start your campaign if Hukum and Pyledriver go there, but I certainly think he’s capable of competing at that grade.

“I’m fairly confident we’ve got him fit enough to go the races, but whatever we see from him, he will come on for the run I’m sure.”

The trainer’s Ascot squad also includes impressive Doncaster handicap winner Wonder Legend, who will bid to go one better than Deauville Legend in the King George V Stakes.

“He showed his true class over further (at Doncaster), so we’re going in off 94 and stepping up to a mile and a half,” said Ferguson.

“You’ve got to have a Group horse to win these handicaps and I feel we’re going in with one. I’d like to think he’s better than his mark and can go on to bigger and better things after this race.”

Land Legend also has the King George option, but is more likely to step up in distance and class for the Queen’s Vase, while Ferguson considers his Greenham Stakes fourth Zoology as a serious contender for the Jersey Stakes.

He added: “I think Land Legend is crying out for a mile and six furlongs. The Queen’s Vase is going to be a very competitive race and he’s probably on a low enough mark where he could be competitive in a handicap, but I do think the extra two furlongs will bring out a lot more in him.

“Zoology ran very well in the Greenham and he’s a super horse. I really like him, he’s genuine and he’s honest and I really don’t think we’ve got to the bottom of him.

“He ran well in the Greenham on ground that was fairly unsuitable for him. I’d like to think on a flat track and a good surface we’ll see a massive improvement from him.

“I’d be very hopeful he can go and run a big race.”

Eldar Eldarov will be bidding for a second successive Royal Ascot success in next week’s Gold Cup following his narrow verdict in the Queen’s Vase 12 months ago.

Roger Varian’s four-year-old also claimed the St Leger in a fruitful season and returned to action in the Yorkshire Cup when narrowly failing to reel in Giavellotto, to whom he was conceding 5lb.

He will be running over a trip further than two miles for the first time in his career at Ascot, but that is the only question mark regarding a horse who has won on quick and slow ground and could potentially even improve for racing over further.

“He ran well at York and has done everything right since,” said Chris Wall, former trainer and now racing manager to owners KHK Racing.

“Obviously he is going into the unknown over that distance but he’s nothing but a competitor, he’s a tough horse, he likes the challenge and if he gets the trip I think he’s going to be a player.

“Roger is very happy with how everything is so it’s fingers crossed, really.

“Four-year-olds have a great record in the Gold Cup and while the trip is the unknown, he certainly gives the impression that he will stay those distances well.

“His work at home has been very satisfactory, he looks well, so we’ll just keep everything crossed that he puts up a good performance.

“We’re not too worried about the ground. I suppose like everybody we’d like a little bit of juice, so a few showers wouldn’t go amiss but he’s proved he’s effective on any ground, so we’re looking forward to it.”

The owners also hold leading claims in the Commonwealth Cup with Sakheer, the Mill Reef winner who finished seventh on soft ground in the 2000 Guineas.

“He must have a good chance. It was hard to tell whether he stayed a mile on that awful ground in the Guineas, but he acquitted himself well,” said Wall.

“He’s done nothing wrong in his preparation either, so we’ll go there and hope for the best and hope he goes and runs a good race.

“He’s going to have to prove himself exceptional if he’s going to beat Little Big Bear I think, but we’ll see how we go.”

Wesley Ward has saddled 12 Royal Ascot winners since the beginning of his American invasion. But it is No Nay Never whose legacy is still felt 10 years after the colt rocketed to Norfolk Stakes success.

The American first announced himself at the Royal meeting in 2009 when Strike A Tiger’s Windsor Castle triumph was quickly followed by Jealous Again romping to Queen Mary victory in the opening race of the following day.

Although then a regular bringing his string across the Atlantic to challenge, he had to wait four years for his next success when No Nay Never blitzed his way to Norfolk glory, attracting the attention of a very famous Ascot regular in the process.

“That was a great day,” said Ward.

“We were second in the Queen Mary the day before, it was a 28-runner field and we came second. My buddy Gatewood Bell, all his buddies and himself owned the filly. We had a big night out that night, a great dinner and a little bit too much wine, so when I came in the next day I was nice and relaxed and the first race of the day was the Norfolk.

“Shortly after that I was invited up to sit with the Queen for about half an hour and it was a great experience.”

Ward’s meeting with the late Queen gave the 55-year-old as much pleasure as No Nay Never’s victory itself and he was left amazed by her boundless knowledge of the sport he plied his trade.

He continued: “What was great about it was she did most of the chatting!

“When you first get up there you are nervous and she just starts firing questions at you and it puts you so at ease. She was just picking my brain and asking all these questions about how I train, how I came here and asking about all the success I had.

“It was unbelievable how much knowledge she had, not just of racing but myself – I couldn’t believe the Queen of England even knew who a trainer like myself from a different country like America was and what I had accomplished.

“You would think she would just be coming to the races and focussed on English racing and everything else she had going on in her life. She was just a wonderful person.”

No Nay Never would go on to give Ward his first European Group One when winning the Prix Morny at Deauville, a race in which he would wear the famous Magnier silks closely associated with the Coolmore operation.

“That was a great day as well,” added Ward. “John Magnier and the whole Coolmore team were there as well and we got the picture in the winner’s enclosure.

“The sales were going on so Mr Magnier was there with all his team and it was a great day along with my great friend Paul Shanahan and he is why I’ve been involved with them, so I can’t thank him enough for getting me in there and I’ve been fortunate enough to have some success for them.”

Following his on-track career, No Nay Never would prove just as proficient in the breeding sheds and the son of Scat Daddy’s progeny continue to keep his name in the spotlight at the season’s showpiece fixture.

Alcohol Free is perhaps his biggest winner at Royal Ascot so far, with Andrew Balding’s star filly landing the Coronation Stakes on a wet afternoon in 2021, while he is beginning to become a force to be reckoned with for Coolmore, especially in the juvenile ranks.

Meditate and Little Big Bear both carried No Nay Never’s genes to two-year-old triumphs at Royal Ascot 12 months ago and both are likely to return 10 years on from one of their father’s finest hours, with Little Big Bear a red-hot favourite for the Commonwealth Cup.

“He’s gone on to be a great sire as well as a very good racehorse,” said Ward.

“He was always one of those horses you always thought would go on to be a sire when you have them in your barn.

“He had a great personality and he was very fast, but his mind was something that you know when you were around a horse like him – you could see how smart and intelligent he is.

“You would think with his ability and all of that combined, those are the ones that go on to be good sires.”

Golden Mind will be given the chance to replicate his half-brother Perfect Power and get on the Royal Ascot scoresheet when he lines up in the Chesham Stakes.

Richard Fahey trained Perfect Power to win the Norfolk Stakes in 2021 before returning to add the Commonwealth Cup 12 months ago, and it is the Musley Bank handler who is responsible for the talented Golden Mind, who opened his account at the second attempt at Leicester recently.

Third over five furlongs at Hamilton on debut, the son of Galileo Gold relished the move up to six furlongs at the east midlands track when running on strongly to down Richard Hannon’s Fusterlandia, and he is now poised for another rise in yardage to race over seven furlongs at the Royal meeting – something his handler believes will suit.

Fahey said: “He’s a good hardy horse and one who stays well – I do like him.

“We beat the second (Fusterlandia) the other day at Beverley (with Bombay Bazaar) funnily enough. I think he’ll improve again and the step up to seven will suit.

“He will definitely run in the Chesham, that has always been the plan. He’s a laid-back character and just needed a bit of racing and I think you will see a different horse down at Ascot.”

Fahey is busy finalising his running plans for the meeting with recent Beverley winners Midnight Affair and Bombay Bazaar possibles to make the trip south, while Carlisle scorer Emperor’s Son is another set to get the call up to the Malton-based handler’s squad and holds an entry for the Coventry Stakes.

He continued: “We’re pleased (with the horses) and we’ll have a sort out this week who will go. The ground will certainly play a part in our decision, but we look to have a good bunch. If you can get one winner down there it would be great, we were very lucky last year with two.

“We’ll see how they (Midnight Affair and Bombay Bazaar) are since Beverley and they are both entitled to be there. It’s quite a good bunch of two-year-olds so we’ll work a few this week and see which way we go.

“Emperor’s Son, he won up at Carlisle, he will go down and he’s a decent horse and there is a couple of fillies who we’ll sort out and see if they are good enough to go.”

My Prospero is set to spearhead William Haggas’ Royal Ascot team in a mouthwatering edition of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Despite the defection of Desert Crown, the likes of Luxembourg, Adayar and Bay Bridge still lie in wait for Haggas’ four-year-old.

Beaten just a neck in the St James’s Palace Stakes last year, he went on to win a Group Two in France over 10 furlongs before once again being narrowly denied in the Champion Stakes behind Bay Bridge.

He reappeared back over a mile in the Lockinge when running on into fourth, but Haggas expects the step back up to a mile and a quarter to be much more up his street.

“He’s very well and I think it will be a great race,” Haggas told Sky Sports Racing.

“Newbury was a bit short for him and he was a bit fresh, but he stayed on nicely at the end and I’m sure he will enjoy the step up in trip.

“He ran very well in the St James’s Palace and ran very well in the Champion Stakes having been off for a bit, I think it was a couple of months after his previous run.

“At the moment I couldn’t have him better and we’re looking forward to it. I think there’s a lot of horses similar to him in that they might not have an electric turn of foot but they have good staying ability and I should think they’ll kick on from three out.

“I think he’s a lovely, big horse and it was probably an error running in the Lockinge, but it didn’t do much harm and he stayed on well having been outpaced. I think he’s come forward for that and I think this is going to be his year.”

Another returning to Ascot following a good run 12 months ago is the mare Sacred, beaten just a length into fifth in the six-furlong Platinum Jubilee Stakes.

This year Haggas has given her a run prior to Ascot, over her preferred distance of seven furlongs at Lingfield where she won with ease.

“She’s a very good filly. One day at Newbury she was excellent and she was pretty good at Lingfield the other day,” he said.

“She’s a very smart filly with a pretty good turn of foot but the problem is she’s a specialist over seven, so we either go over a mile or six. The only seven-furlong Group One is the Foret and that is invariably on soft ground, so there’s nothing for her.

“We’re plumping for six again, she’s had a run this year which she hadn’t last year when she ran well. It’s a competitive race but I’m not sure there’s a standout. The Australian horse (Artorius) might be, while the Hong Kong horse (Wellington) is a proven top sprinter but she should run a good race.”

Khanjar had been a leading fancy for the Wokingham but was surprisingly beaten at Hamilton recently leaving Haggas to reassess his claims.

“I was pretty disappointed (with his Hamilton run). In his first run at York he was too enthusiastic, so me and Jim were keen for him to have another, but we probably overdid it a bit and let the winner get away,” he said.

“I thought he’d win but he’s going to run in the Wokingham. I think he likes small fields and if they split up, that might suit him.”

Stable stalwart Hamish appears unlikely to get his favoured soft ground for he Hardwicke Stakes at this stage.

Haggas said: “He wants soft ground so we need to debate whether to leave him in. We’ll see what the forecast is but I think there’s every likelihood he won’t be running. There’s a Group Three at York he might go for, but it all depends on the ground. Chester last time was very good, arguably his best bar his Irish Leger second.”

One horse definitely not running is Maljoom, but Haggas did offer encouragement that he would be back in action soon after being forced to rule him out of the Queen Anne.

“It’s a shame, he’s a lovely horse but he has soundness issues. We were getting well down the road to run at Ascot then he met with a problem,” said Haggas.

“I’m so grateful he’s got a patient owner and he will be more frustrated than we are, but we’re getting there and there’s still a long season ahead. He’ll get entries in everything and with a straightforward run, hopefully he’ll get to the Summer Mile (Ascot, July 15).”

Truthful looks set to have her sights raised later this summer after maintaining her unbeaten record in the Jewson Wigan EBF Fillies’ Novice Stakes at Haydock.

A field of five runners went to post for the £40,000 contest, with the William Haggas-trained Truthful opposed by another debut winner in William Muir and Chris Grassick’s Shagpyle.

Truthful, a 120,000 guineas purchase for Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, was the 10-11 favourite to supplement a narrow introductory success at Salisbury, with Ascot scorer Shagpyle – a half-sister to her Coronation Cup and King George-winning stablemate Pyledriver – rated the biggest threat at 2-1.

Montevideo took the quartet along for much of the mile-and-a-half journey, but Sea The Stars filly Truthful picked up well for Tom Marquand once in the clear and had almost three lengths in hand over the staying-on Shagpyle at the line.

Highclere’s managing director, Harry Herbert, said: “She was quite impressive, wasn’t she?

“She’s a classic William Haggas, big filly who was too immature to run as a two-year-old – she was a bit of a goose who suddenly turned into a swan. The trainer got more and more positive about her and said ‘I think we might have one’!

“What was lovely today is that with one slap she quickened really well and put the race to bed. She’s extended, hit the line with her ears pricked and galloped out strong.

“We’ll take it one step at a time, but she’s in such good hands with William. She could be anything.”

The winner will not take up her entry in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot next week, but will be stepped up in class on her next start.

“She’s very much a work in progress still, so it was right not to go to Royal Ascot for the Ribblesdale – that was considered,” Herbert added.

“She’s a beautiful filly with a lovely pedigree as a full-sister to a filly of William’s (Sea On Time) who won three races and was about to step up into Listed and Group company and sadly went wrong.

“This filly is much bigger than her sister and still a work in progress, but a very exciting one.

“If she can stay in one piece, hopefully she’s going to take her owners to some wonderful places.”

Truthful’s win is a tasty appetiser for the Highclere team ahead of Royal Ascot next week, with leading Albany Stakes hope Soprano set to be part of a strong squad on the penultimate day of the meeting.

Herbert said: “It looks like we might have a big day on Friday. Obviously Soprano goes for the Albany, Believing will go for the Commonwealth Cup and in the Sandringham we have Pastiche and Eximious, who are both very nice fillies.

“Believing is a very fast filly who blew the start the other day in France, but she’s very useful and we’re going to give her a roll in Group One company.

“It’s always a very big time of year, we look forward to it every year and this year’s it’s just rather weird that all our runners could be on the same day.”