Showcasing ready to hold off his cosmopolitan challengers

As such, the 450,000 Group One dash has attracted its now traditional mix of home-grown speedsters and international challengers, with Golden Shaheen winner Kinsale King flying the flag for America.

Representing Irish-born trainer Carl O'Callaghan, he is something of an unknown quantity on turf, whereas Hong Kong hopes Happy Zero and Joy And Fun are at their most effective on grass – particularly the quick surface they are likely to encounter today.

Australian mare Alverta, Starspangledspanner – another Antipodean recruit but now under the watchful eye of Aidan O'Brien in Ireland – and rejuvenated French veteran Marchand D'Or add to the cosmopolitan flavour at Royal Ascot.

However, punters clearly expect last year's Gimcrack hero Showcasing to keep the prize on home soil.

John Gosden's colt has been backed into favourite since his excellent second behind another of this afternoon's rivals, Prime Defender, in the Duke Of York Stakes at the Dante meeting.

Three-year-olds have claimed the last two renewals and although Main Aim also carries the Khalid Abdullah colours and was not far behind his younger opponent on the Knavesmire, Showcasing is the principal hope.

Abdullah's racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, said: "I think that Showcasing has a bit more zip than Main Aim.

"Main Aim is quite a versatile horse, he can run over anything between six furlongs and a mile and I probably think six-and-a-half to seven furlongs is his best.

"That being said, he ran on really well in the Duke of York Stakes and he deserves to take his chance here, especially on his July Cup run where he got a bad bump."

Main Aim also gets the opportunity for revenge on the returning Fleeting Spirit, who hampered Main Aim when relegating him into second in last year's July Cup.

She makes her seasonal debut, while William Haggas also holds a strong hand in a hotly-contested event with last-start winners Triple Aspect and High Standing.

High Standing won the Wokingham Handicap on this day last year and while Richard Fahey may have pulled Prime Exhibit out of today's edition, he still sends four from his Malton base, headed by top-weight Knot In Wood.

Stable jockey Paul Hanagan gets the leg up on Kaldoun Kingdom, though, and was less than a length adrift of smart mare Look Busy when attempting a four-timer at Beverley last time.

Dandy Nicholls's Striking Spirit is the main beneficiary of Prime Exhibit's defection, and Yorkshire's very own 'sprint king' bolsters his Wokingham squad with 2009 Stewards' Cup runner-up Evens And Odds.

Fahey has already tasted juvenile glory this week and Lexington Bay aims to follow the example set by Windsor Castle hero Marine Commando in the Chesham Stakes.

The son of High Chaparral was an encouraging third on his Chester debut, but that leaves him with a lot to find against the likes of Richard Hannon's King Torus and Ballydoyle contenders Jackaroo and Eskimo, who filled the first two places in a Gowran Park race won by some of the stable's better juveniles over the years.

Mark Johnston is on the scoreboard for the meeting already, but has waited until the final day to unleash one of his stable stars, Jukebox Jury, in the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes.

The classy grey's Coronation Cup effort was too bad to be true at Epsom, but the first-time visor woke him up at Newmarket prior to that and a similar effort here would give hot favourite Harbinger plenty to think about.

"I can't say he's been disappointing this year as we've got one Group race in the bag already from three runs, but the Coronation Cup was our big target over the winter and that didn't go well for us," said the Middleham trainer.

"We're coming back here taking a chance with a 5lb penalty again against very good horses, but he did that in the Jockey Club Stakes.

"We just thought he's of the age now where he's running regularly and there's no reason why he shouldn't.

"He's got every chance in this race and he'll take a bit of beating."

Johnston launches three arrows at the Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap, headed by last year's winner Drill Sergeant, although his best chance should come in the form of the Frankie Dettori-ridden Submariner.

The Singspiel colt did not see a racecourse until the age of four, but is making up for lost time and made it three victories from four outings when supplementing a Beverley success at Kempton.

Just as effective on turf, he is possibly still ahead of the assessor and could even be John Smith's Cup material.

North Yorkshire handler Ann Duffield provides the Middleham handler with stiff opposition, saddling the hat-trick seeking Just Lille, but the one to beat is undoubtedly Imposing, who rewarded Sir Michael Stoute's patience when successfully returning from a long spell on the sidelines to score so impressively at York's Dante meeting.