Leading contender Giavellotto is the first of the seven announced for the Boodles Yorkshire Cup on Friday.
Not only did Marco Botti's standout stayer win this prize a year ago, but he also placed third in the Lonsdale Cup at the Ebor Festival last summer. The two have a terrific relationship.
The five-year-old, who was trained in Newmarket, made his home debut this year under Oisin Murphy's tutelage after being thoroughly impressed in the Middle East during the first half of 2024.
Giavellotto raced for two valuable overseas prizes in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, but Aidan O'Brien's Tower of London emerged victorious. It seems that Aidan O'Brien's team is the one to beat as he attempts to establish himself as a legitimate Ascot Gold Cup competitor.
John and Thady Gosden's St. Leger fifth Gregory, a winner of the Queen's Vase at the Royal meeting in 2023 and a star performance for their ownership company Wathnan Racing, is also making an effort to position himself for Ascot.
Willie Mullins, who just won the British jumps trainers' championship, is now aiming to win major races on the Flat with Vauban.
He was formerly a brilliant hurdler who performed exceptionally well on the level last year, culminating in a trip to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup.
He was sent off as the 9-2 favourite in Australia, but he will try to make up ground on the record at home.
In the John Porter Stakes at Newbury, William Haggas's Hamish defeated Karl Burke's Al Qareem. The two have now squared off once more, and the handler of Somerville Lodge has also taken on Naqeeb.
Sixteen fillies have registered for the Listed Clipper EBF Marygate Fillies’ Stakes, with Ollie Sangster’s Running Queen and Tom Dascombe’s Lily Agnes winner Seraphim Angel among the contenders.
In the Sky Bet Fillies' Stakes, the other Listed event on the card, Roger Varian's True Cyan and Zenjabeela established the standard.