'It will take a very good horse to beat Ombudsman - but my horse is a champion'

When Watch Me provided Francis Graffard with a Royal Ascot breakthrough in the 2019 Coronation Stakes, the trainer might not have dared dream of the squad he has assembled for next week's five-day showpiece. 

As many as 13 horses could be on the lorry from Chantilly at the beginning of the week, and while last year's Arc hero Daryz is undoubtedly the star attraction in Wednesday's blockbuster Prince of Wales's Stakes, there is quality everywhere; both from those carrying the Aga Khan Studs' silks and across a host of important ownership operations which could include Wathnan, Juddmonte, John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock and the Maktoum family. 

And when Graffard says that he studies every race at the meeting, he means it. Hands up anyone who foresaw entries in the Palace of Holyroodhouse or the Britannia?