Coltrane and Eldar Eldarov are among 14 runners declared for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot on Thursday.

Winner of the Ascot Stakes 12 months ago, the Andrew Balding-trained Coltrane has since developed into a top-class stayer.

The six-year-old inflicted a shock defeat on Trueshan in last season’s Doncaster Cup before the tables were turned on Champions Day at Ascot, but Coltrane reasserted his authority on his reappearance in Ascot’s Sagaro Stakes last month and has been at the head of the Gold Cup betting ever since.

He will renew rivalry with with Adam Nicol’s Sagaro runner-up Wise Eagle and the fourth-placed Trueshan, whose trainer Alan King will have been pleased to see the rain arrive in Berkshire.

Like Coltrane, Roger Varian’s Eldar Eldarov is a previous Royal Ascot winner, having last season come out on top in a pulsating renewal of the Queen’s Vase.

The Dubawi colt went on to claim Classic glory in the St Leger and made a most encouraging start to his four-year-old campaign when runner-up in the Yorkshire Cup.

Charlie Johnston’s Subjectivist has suffered his fair share of problems since a brilliant victory in the 2021 Gold Cup, but returns in a bid to regain his crown.

Aidan O’Brien, who has won the race on a record eight occasions, this year saddles both Emily Dickinson and Broome, while Frankie Dettori partners John and Thady Gosden’s unbeaten four-year-old Courage Mon Ami in what will be his final Gold Cup before retirement.

Yibir (Charlie Appleby) and Echoes In Rain (Willie Mullins) also feature in what appears a wide-open renewal of the two-and-a-half-mile showpiece.

Day three of the Royal meeting gets underway with the Group Two Norfolk Stakes, for which Karl Burke’s dual winner Elite Status is a hot favourite to see off 15 other speedy juveniles.

His opponents include American Rascal, a son of the trainer’s dual Royal Ascot heroine Lady Aurelia, and his compatriot No Nay Mets, who will be ridden by Dettori.

Al Asifah is odds-on for a 19-runner Ribblesdale Stakes after being supplemented off the back of a scintillating Listed success at Goodwood. Infinite Cosmos (Sir Michael Stoute) and Bluestocking (Ralph Beckett) look her two biggest threats.

Joey Votto had a home run and three RBIs in a triumphant return from a 10-month absence, and the Cincinnati Reds remained Major League Baseball's hottest team with Monday's 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.

The resurgent Reds posted their ninth consecutive victory, the franchise's longest winning streak since a 10-game run in July 2012, and moved a half-game ahead of Milwaukee for first place in the National League Central following the Brewers' 9-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Votto gave Cincinnati a 3-1 lead with a solo homer off Colorado starter Austin Gomber in the fifth inning, then put the Reds back ahead with a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth after the Rockies scored three times in the top of the inning to take a 4-3 edge.

The six-time All-Star first baseman was making his first MLB appearance since August after spending the season's first two-plus months rehabbing from left shoulder surgery. 

Kevin Newman and Nick Senzel also homered to help the Reds extend Colorado's losing streak to six games. 

Giants rally late to stun Padres, earn eighth straight win

The San Francisco Giants kept their own long winning streak alive when Mike Yastrzemski's three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning produced a dramatic 7-4 win over the San Diego Padres.

San Francisco trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth but scored twice to force extra innings, and after putting two on with one out in the 10th, Yastrzemski launched a 3-1 pitch from Ray Kerr into McCovey Cove for his second homer of the night to give the Giants their eighth consecutive win.

Yastrzemski had a solo homer in the sixth inning and singled and scored during the ninth-inning rally while ending the night 3 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Keaton Winn aided the Giants' comeback by allowing just one run in five innings of relief.

The Padres had built a 4-1 lead after 4 1/2 innings on a pair of Juan Soto solo homers and a two-run single from Ha-Seong Kim, who went 3 for 4 in the loss.

San Diego starter Michael Wacha surrendered just four hits, including solo homers by Yastrzemski and David Villar, in six innings of work.

Lindor, Scherzer help Mets extend Astros' skid to five

Francisco Lindor homered and drove in five runs to back a splendid start from Max Scherzer as the New York Mets extended the Houston Astros' June swoon with an 11-1 rout of the defending World Series champions. 

Scherzer bounced back from two straight subpar starts by yielding just one run and four hits while striking out eight over a season-high eight innings. The three-time Cy Young Award winner got all the support he needed from Lindor's three-run homer off Hunter Brown in the third inning and a solo shot from Daniel Vogelbach earlier in the frame.

Vogelbach finished with two hits and three RBIs as the Mets ended a seven-game overall losing streak to the Astros and an eight-game skid at Houston's Minute Maid Park, where their last victory occurred in May 2011.

Houston has now lost a season-high five straight and is 3-10 since June 6. Yainer Diaz accounted for the Astros' lone run with a solo homer off Scherzer in the seventh inning.

Coventry Stakes contender Givemethebeatboys was bought for £1.1million at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of his Royal Ascot run.

The Bungle Inthejungle colt changed hands for €11,000 at the autumn yearling sales back in November, but after winning each of his two starts in the colours of Theresa Marnane, he topped the sale when bought by Bronson Racing.

Trained by Jessica Harrington, Givemethebeatboys is set to be partnered by Frankie Dettori in Tuesday’s juvenile Group Two.

The select sale also featured Norfolk Stakes entry No Nay Mets, who was a Gulfstream Park winner for trainer George Weaver last month, and he went to Tuckernuck Stables for £800,000.

Australian training team Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott bought last year’s top lot Hoo Ya Mal for £1.2m and they were in action again, picking up two lots in conjunction with Johnny McKeever.

Cuban Dawn, placed in two of his three starts for Jim Bolger, cost them £300,000 while they paid £260,000 for New Endeavour, winner of two his seven starts for Roger Varian.

The first-named runner is in the Golden Gates Stakes, while New Endeavour is entered for both the Britannia and Buckingham Palace Stakes.

A delighted Venus Williams fought for more than three hours to defeat Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham and post her best victory for nearly four years.

Two days after her 43rd birthday and with a right knee problem restricting her  movement, the former world number one showed that her competitive spirit has not diminished as she ground out a 7-6 (5) 4-6 7-6 (6) win.

Williams plays sparingly these days, returning at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week for her first tournament since January, and this was only her second victory since Wimbledon 2021, and her first over a top-50 opponent since 2019.

Giorgi is a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist and a player very much at home on grass but Williams still possesses a fearsome strike, while her serve touched 120mph.

A heavy fall in the first set did not help her knee and she noticeably limped but she kept her nose in front, putting aside the disappointment of failing to serve out the match at 5-3 in the decider to take her second match point in the tie-break.

Williams held her arms aloft and repeatedly pumped her fist as the crowd, who had been drowned out at times by the support from the Ashes Test down the road, cheered.

“This one is especially sweet because I have been away from the tour for so long,” she said. “The last couple of years I’ve had little to no matches and long stretches between matches and that’s very challenging.

“I almost feel like when I’m on the court I’m reminded of things I used to do that worked really well, so there’s a lot of memories and deja vu – I’ve never had that experience before. I felt like I played well the whole match and that felt great.

“Tennis is awesome. There’s so many people that would love to do what I’m doing right now so I don’t take it for granted. I faced some huge challenges in the match. I thought I didn’t do much wrong and I found myself still not winning. I think that brought the emotion out.”

There were different emotions for another former top-10 player returning to grass, with Elina Svitolina beaten 6-2 6-0 by Czech 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova in less than an hour.

Svitolina made a brilliant comeback on clay following the birth of daughter Skai last October, reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open, but was unable to find her feet on the grass.

Wearing the colours of her native Ukraine, the 28-year-old quickly lost the first four games and made far too many errors against a much steadier opponent.

“Linda played really well today, from the start until the end,” said Svitolina. “I don’t think she did anything wrong at any point.

“I was struggling at the beginning and obviously on the grass you have no time to adjust. For me, it didn’t happen today but I’ll go on the practice court and try to do better next time.”

Svitolina chose not to use her protected ranking from before her pregnancy to enter Wimbledon so must wait to find out whether she will receive a wild card.

Third seed Magda Linette had to battle her way into round two, coming from a set down to defeat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 3-6 7-5 6-4.

Nottingham champion Katie Boulter begins her campaign on Tuesday against China’s Lin Zhu while Jodie Burrage and Harriet Dart play each other.

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from June 19.

England looked back 20 years ahead of tonight’s match.

Ronald Koeman looked ahead after Nations League disappointment.

David De Gea was relaxing.

Charlie Adam was heading back to school.

George Russell paid the price over the weekend.

Red Bull recorded their 100th win.

Fernando Alonso was still celebrating.

KP had a difficult choice to make.

Katie Boulter was fighting off nature.

It was time to celebrate Father’s Day.

King Of Steel could be the horse that gives Amo Racing a treasured first Royal Ascot winner if lining up in the King Edward VII Stakes on Friday.

Despite having plenty of runners at the showpiece meeting in recent years, the racing operation of Kia Joorabchian is yet to find the scoresheet.

And while the two-year-old division normally provides Amo with their best shot at glory, this time around hopes could be pinned to the Derby runner-up, providing he is given the go-ahead for the Group Two contest.

“It’s obvious, but if King Of Steel turns up in the same form as he did at Epsom he would have an outstanding chance,” said Tom Pennington, racing and operations manager for Amo Racing.

“You know what this sport is like and there is no such thing as a guaranteed winner, but if you are going into a Royal Ascot Group Two with an 11-8 or 6-4 shot, then that doesn’t happen too often.”

Amo Racing’s purple silks have become a prominent fixture on the racecourse since Joorabchian’s increased investment in the sport, with a winner at the Royal meeting being what he has craved most of all.

“Kia, arguably his whole season revolves around this week and it would be huge for him and the team to get on the scoreboard,” continued Pennington.

“It’s the Olympics of our sport and where everyone wants to be, so it would be a big moment and a deserved moment considering the level of investment Kia and Amo have put into the sport.

“If we can just get one winner this week, it would mean a lot to everyone.”

King Of Steel could be joined at the meeting by his Roger Varian-trained stablemate Olivia Maralda and she is also backed to be one of Amo’s leading players when she lines up in the Jersey Stakes, while Maximum Impact and Magical Sunset are also poised to provide the leading owners with live claims in their respective Royal Ascot assignments.

“I know she’s taking on colts, but Olivia Maralda based on her Epsom run in the Surrey Stakes, would go there with a live chance,” added Pennington.

“In terms of two-year-olds, I would say Maximum Impact would be at the forefront of our minds but again you have 25 plus runners in these two-year-old races and you need an awful lot of luck in running.

“I think Magical Sunset is a lovely filly and I can’t believe the handicapper put her up 4lb for her run behind Olivia Maralda in the Surrey Stakes.

“She looked potentially high-class last year and we need to sit down and discuss it with Richard (Hannon, trainer). I think she will improve for a step up to a mile and even though she might be a couple of pounds too high, she might be just under the radar in the Sandringham – I think she would have a squeak in that at a price.”

Longtime Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green will decline his $27.6 million player option for next season, the forward’s agent told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Monday.

Rich Paul of Klutch Sports told Wojnarowski “we will continue to talk to Golden State and explore all options.”

The 33-year-old Green has been with Golden State since the Warriors drafted him in the second round (35th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft.

Green was a key member of Golden State’s four NBA championship teams in an eight-season span from 2014-15 to 2021-22.

He was the 2016-17 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, is a four-time All-Star and has been named First-Team All-Defensive four times.

Since becoming a full-time starter in 2014-15, Green has averaged 9.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.48 steals in 597 regular-season games.

He ranks third in franchise history with 758 career games played behind Stephen Curry (882) and Hall of Famer Chris Mullin (807).

Eight-time major winner Tom Watson says the PGA Tour’s new partnership with Saudi Arabia appears to indicate “a more desperate financial situation than has been previously revealed by the Tour”.

Watson has written an open letter to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan about the “unanswered questions” he and many other professional players have regarding the shock announcement on June 6 concerning the creation of a new commercial entity designed to “unify golf”.

The announcement brought an end to litigation between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, a series backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) which will now provide the financial backing for the new commercial entity.

Prior to the announcement, Monahan had been an outspoken critic of LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia, and Watson wrote: “The reversal (in position) does appear to indicate a more desperate financial situation than has been previously revealed by the Tour.

“While last week I learned the significant news that litigation around the Tour/LIV conflict would be terminated with prejudice, that only solves one significant financial problem.

“It is important to understand how all of this has impacted the Tour’s Reserve Fund and the Tour’s overall financial solvency. Have funds been depleted to the point where the Tour needs an unprecedented capital injection to remain solvent now or for the future?

“My overarching questions remain. Is the PIF the only viable rescue from the Tour’s financial problems? Was/is there a plan B? And again, what exactly is the exchange? We need clarity and deserve full disclosure as to the financial health of the PGA Tour and the details of this proposed partnership.”

The United States Senate has opened an investigation into the proposed partnership, while the Wall Street Journal reported last week that a PGA Tour official informed employees that the US Justice Department also plans to review the agreement for antitrust concerns.

The PGA Tour said last week when the Wall Street Journal report was published: “We are confident that once all stakeholders learn more about how the PGA Tour will lead this new venture, they will understand how it benefits our players, fans, and sport while protecting the American institution of golf.”

The PGA Tour insists the partnership is not a merger, and that the PIF will not own the PGA Tour.

The PA news agency understands the PGA Tour felt the choice it faced was between a lengthy litigation which would drain resources, divert attention and diminish its product and a path forward that reunifies professional golf and fuels investment into the sport.

Highfield Princess will lead the home defence as an international cast of sprinting talent head to post for an ultra-competitive King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday.

John Quinn’s stable star has been a revelation over the past 18 months and has gone from competing in handicap company to being one of the best sprinters in the country, plundering a hat-trick of Group One prizes in the process.

She found the scoresheet five times in all during 2022 and having made a more than respectable return when second over six furlongs at York last month, now drops back to the minimum distance for her crack at further big-race glory.

“She’s been absolutely fine since York and we’re looking forward to the race, it’s a spicy race,” said Quinn.

“She’s been a great mare and a fine animal to have around the place. We hope she’s lucky and she seems fine. Let’s hope she wins and we hope she runs well, but she seems in good form.”

Although only sixth in the Platinum Jubilee 12 months ago, Highfield Princess has got a Royal Ascot victory on her CV, winning the Buckingham Palace Stakes in 2021.

However, that was in handicap company and the six-year-old now finds herself the market leader for one of the most prestigious events of the week.

“Not really no, none of us thought that to be honest. But that’s what can happen thankfully,” continued Quinn when asked if he ever envisaged her starting favourite for a Group One at the meeting.

“She’s probably the best older sprinter that we’ve trained. We’ve had some very good sprinters and The Wow Signal was a top-class two-year-old, but what she did last year was phenomenal. Those good horses are hard to find and I appreciate every one of them.”

Frankie Dettori will look to win the King’s Stand for the first time since 1994 when he partners John Ryan’s dual track-and-trip victor Manaccan, with the four-year-old kept fresh since finishing third in Newmarket’s Palace House Stakes last month.

“It’s a big ask taking on the best but as long as the ground stays as it is, he has every chance of mixing it with them,” said Ryan ahead of the Qipco British Champions Series contest.

“He’s still going up the ladder, has a high cruising speed, quickens, has run three of his best races at Ascot and, touch wood, we’ve got the right man on board.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of Group Two and Three wins but haven’t troubled the judge in a Group One yet.”

Henry Candy’s Twilight Calls was a silver medallist behind Nature Strip in this last year and connections hope two tune-up outings at Newmarket and Haydock will have the five-year-old fully primed for a return to Ascot.

“He needs fast ground and hated it when he ran at Newmarket, he was unbalanced and had been off a long time so needed the run,” said Chris Richardson, managing director of owners Cheveley Park Stud.

“He had a bit of a mucky scope after that which we thought he had got over by the time he got to Haydock, but clearly he hadn’t.

“Both races should set him up for an opportunity to run well at a track he enjoys and we are delighted to have Ryan Moore on board.”

Also shaping nicely in this race 12 months ago was Mooneista and new handler Joseph O’Brien is hopeful she can at least match last year’s fourth place following a pleasing run at Naas recently.

He said: “We think she’s in good nick since Naas. A reproduction of her run last year will see her in the mix.

“I was happy with her in Naas, she didn’t have a perfect preparation for that but I think we’re going to Ascot in good shape.”

Karl Burke is responsible for two, with Temple Stakes winner Dramatised bidding for successive Royal Ascot victories following her Queen Mary victory last year and Marshman, who represents the Nick Bradley Racing syndicate that have enjoyed success at this meeting in the past.

The latter has escaped a last-minute scare to make the final field, with Bradley explaining: “He was lame last Tuesday and we were panicking a bit. We got the X-ray machine out and he had a little foot issue. That had sorted itself by Thursday and he breezed on Saturday and he breezed very nicely.

“I think if there is any rain that falls that will be in his favour. Every time he runs on rattling fast ground he comes back a bit sore.

“I think he’s definitely overpriced and I think if we deliver him right, we will have a chance. I think there will be a point where we will look like we’re going to win, whether we do or not I don’t know. It just comes right to getting it right on the day in a hot race.”

Rory McIlroy had to settle for a runner-up finish at the US Open as his long wait for a fifth major title continued.

McIlroy finished one stroke behind first-time major winner Wyndham Clark at Los Angeles Country Club, meaning he has still not lifted one of golf’s four biggest prizes since his success at the US PGA Championship in 2014.

Here, the PA news agency looks at McIlroy’s long wait and the near misses among the way.

McIlroy said after Sunday’s heartbreaking finish that an eventual fifth major would be worth “100 Sundays like this” and he is now a third of the way there, with 33 appearances at majors since his last win.

He has 19 top-10 and 10 top-five finishes in that time, with his recent form in particular indicating an overdue success is on the way.

McIlroy has finished in the top 10 in six of the seven major tournaments this season and last and 11 of the last 17, with Sunday marking his second runner-up finish in that time.

The other came at last year’s Masters, albeit three strokes behind winner Scottie Scheffler, and was followed by eighth and fifth at the US PGA Championship and US Open respectively and third place at the Open Championship – two shots behind champion Cameron Smith.

After missing the cut at Augusta in April he was back to form with a tie for seventh at the US PGA before pushing Clark all the way.

There have been 24 different major winners since McIlroy’s last success, with Brooks Koepka headlining that list with five wins.

Koepka won the US Open in 2017 and 2018 and the US PGA in 2018, 2019 and this year.

Jordan Spieth has won three majors in that time – the Masters and US Open in 2015 and the Open two years later – while Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm have two apiece.

Clark is the 18th different player to win a single major in that stretch, including six European Ryder Cup team-mates of McIlroy in Danny Willett, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Francesco Molinari, Shane Lowry and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Americans Zach Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Patrick Reed, Tiger Woods, Gary Woodland, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Scheffler have won one each, along with Australians Jason Day and Smith and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.

A handful of players have won majors after a longer wait that McIlroy’s current drought, though if he is to win again while avoiding the top 10 of that list it will have to be at next month’s Open.

Julius Boros won his two US Open titles in 1952 and 1963, 11 years and nine days apart, with Hale Irwin going a day over 11 years between his 1979 and 1990 wins.

Ben Crenshaw won the Masters in 1984 and 1995, coming in just six days shy of the 11-year mark, while Henry Cotton won the Open in 1937 and 1948.

Tiger Woods’ memorable victory at the 2019 Masters came almost 11 years on from his 2008 US Open win, with Lee Trevino and Ernie Els also cracking the 10-year barrier.

John Henry Taylor and Bob Martin waited just over nine years between major wins, with Willie Park Sr just three days shy of that mark at the 1875 Open.

No other player has exceeded McIlroy’s current wait and there is a further note of caution as only Boros and Taylor of that top 10 went on to add further major titles, and then only one more apiece – Boros at the 1968 US PGA and Taylor the 1913 Open.

Coolangatta will bid to enhance Australia’s fine record in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, with the opening day sprinting shootout possessing a truly international flavour in 2023.

Raiders from the southern hemisphere have won this on five occasions since Choisir showed what was possible in 2003 and Ciaron Maher and David Eustace’s filly will bid to follow in the footsteps of Nature Strip, who is the most recent Antipodean winner having romped to victory in the hands of James McDonald 12 months ago.

This time the New Zealander – who enjoyed three winners at the meeting in 2022 – will bid for back-to-back victories aboard Coolangatta as she carries Australian hopes following her success in the Black Caviar Lightning in February.

However, she did appear workmanlike as she finished third in a Flemington barrier trial at the end of May, a workout that initially left connections with more questions than answers.

Maher explained: “In the jump out at Flemington, she ran her second fastest half-mile that she has ever run. I still cannot get my head around it, but I guess that is why we have the trackers and stuff on them, because trials can be deceiving.

“The track was quite damp and, although she ran well as a two-year-old on a damp track, there were a lot of good horses in that trial – but James said it was the weirdest jump out that he has ever been in. Hopefully, it was just that, because she has thrived since then.

“I suppose winning the Lightning Stakes down the straight at Flemington gives you some confidence about handling the track here. Straight track racing can be quite different to some of the tighter tracks at home like Moonee Valley, where she has won before.

“We have come here thinking that the track would not be a problem.”

Peter and Paul Snowden’s Cannonball is another to make the journey from the other side of the world and his training team feel he possesses all the qualities to get in the mix.

“He is a fast horse, he is a tough horse, and he has handled this trip over here like it’s nothing, said Peter Snowden.

“This is his first time away from home and the longest he has been on a truck before is two hours. He had 24 hours on a plane and it did not faze him one bit. That attitude will carry him a long way.

“The five furlongs of the King’s Stand Stakes is all about speed and toughness, and he has both in abundance. I hope he is flying under the radar, because he should be on form, but I quite like the horse and think he is up to it.”

Adding further flavour is Twilight Gleaming, who will bid to give Wesley Ward his second King’s Stand following Lady Aurelia’s famous triumph in 2017.

The daughter of National Defense was a runner-up in the Queen Mary in 2021, but having got on the scoresheet in the hands of Irad Ortiz Jr in Keeneland’s Giant’s Causeway Stakes in April, Ward is optimistic of a bold bid.

“Twilight Gleaming has trained forward ever since (Keeneland). I’m excited about this filly,” said the American.

“We know that it is probably the toughest five-furlong sprint in the world. She is going to run a bang-up race.

“She is a five-furlong horse, she’s not a five-furlong and one-jump horse. Five furlongs is her game. She is extremely effective at this distance, so I look forward to this run.”

Aidan O’Brien is certain River Tiber will get the six-furlong trip of the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

Ryan Moore will partner the the Wootton Bassett colt, who is one of 22 declared for the Group Two prize.

Though he is unbeaten in two starts, scoring by 10 lengths on debut at Navan over five and a half furlongs in soft ground and dropping back to the minimum trip at Naas to score with ease on his second try, he has yet to tackle six furlongs.

Despite this, the Coolmore-owned youngster tops the market and O’Brien, who has won this race on a record nine occasions, has no concerns on the stamina front.

He said: “We were delighted we ran him in Naas, he was a little bit green in the middle of the race but we feel he learned plenty from it.

“He won over nearly six furlongs the first day and then went back to five and is back to six now, so we think he should be happy with that.”

Main market rival Asadna, the mount of William Buick, won by a remarkable 12 lengths on his Ripon debut over six furlongs.

Trainer George Boughey has no qualms about how the son of Mehmas will handle the big occasion on only his second start.

“He has just got an amazing temperament and a super attitude,” said Boughey.

“He doesn’t sweat, he doesn’t do anything wrong. He just loves his work.”

Like River Tiber, Givemethebeatboys is unbeaten in two outings and is drawn alongside O’Brien’s runner in stall seven.

Having stepped up on an extended five-furlong debut win at Navan, he gained a head verdict in the Group Three Marble Hill over six furlongs at the Curragh last time under Shane Foley.

With Foley ruled out through injury, Frankie Dettori takes the mount and Harrington joked: “He’s not a bad deputy, is he?

“He’s in great form and is a very straightforward horse and I’m hoping for the best, but it is very competitive.”

Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing have three darts to throw in the form of Bucanero Fuerte (Adrian Murray), Cuban Thunder (Dominic Ffrench Davis) and Packard (Richard Hannon).

Bucanero Fuerte won a five-furlong Curragh maiden under Kevin Stott in March on his sole start for Westmeath handler Murray.

“He’s a nice horse who has always been held in high regard,” said Tom Pennington, racing and operations manager for Amo Racing.

“The forecast rain will help him and he goes there a fit and healthy horse. It’s obviously a very competitive race, but he’s the choice of Kevin and we’re hopeful he will put up a good show.”

Cuban Thunder, the mount of Rossa Ryan, was favourite for a five-furlong Newmarket maiden on his first start, and while runner-up on that occasion, gained compensation over six furlongs in a decent York maiden last month.

Pennington added: “Cuban Thunder is a lovely horse, a big, scopey horse and a good-moving horse.

“He probably wants seven furlongs so a strongly-run, stiff six furlongs at Ascot will suit him and I’m sure he’ll be doing his best work late.”

Hannon saw his father train the winner of the race on three previous occasions and will hope Packard can add his own name to the roll of honour.

Runner-up on debut at Goodwood, he flew home to win an all-weather Lingfield novice over the same six-furlong trip earlier this month.

“He’s a lovely horse and he ran well on debut at Goodwood. Then the quick six at Lingfield probably didn’t play to his strengths,” said Pennington.

“I thought he did very well to get up on the line and hunt down the Gosden horse (Point Of Attack) and he was doing his best work late on. He’s another nice horse who goes there fit and well.”