'He's a horse on the up and I've been thinking about this race for a long time - we've always rated him highly'

Roger Varian started last year's Royal Ascot with a bang thanks to Charyn's success in the Queen Anne Stakes and it has become second nature to expect the Newmarket trainer to feature among the winners during the five-day meeting. 

Charyn's success was the trainer's eighth in the last five years at the royal fixture and, although his star miler may have been retired to stud, Varian still has some interesting contenders for next week. 

"We'd like a few more but we're happy with what we're sending," says Varian, who is especially pleased to be dropping last season's 1,000 Guineas winner Elmalka back to a mile in Wednesday's Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes.