Fabre fires Stars at 'winnable' Prince of Wales's

French ace Cloth Of Stars will bid to take Royal Ascot's biggest prize back across the Channel, after trainer Andre Fabre candidly admitted the injury-enforced absence of Minding has persuaded him to target the £750,000 Prince of Wales's Stakes.

The four-year-old Sea The Stars colt, who is unbeaten in three starts this year, is now set to face fellow Godolphin highflyer Jack Hobbs a week on Wednesday, with Fabre having delayed plans to step the colt back up to a mile and a half.

Cloth Of Stars and Mekhtaal – who between them have dominated the middle-distance scene in France among older horses this season – will provide the nation with arguably its best chance of capturing the royal meeting's richest race since Byword scored for Fabre in 2010.

While for many the banker of the week will be Winter in the Coronation Stakes, the French tricolour will fly against her after Fabrice Chappet revealed the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Precieuse would be supplemented.

Cloth Of Stars had a neck to spare over Mekhtaal when winning the Group 2 Prix d'Harcourt, before getting the better of Zarak when landing a first Group 1 in the Prix Ganay.

"Cloth Of Stars will be stepped back up in trip at some stage but with Minding out the Prince of Wales's looks winnable, and he is in good form," said Fabre, who expects to have three runners at the meeting.

"Le Brivido will go for the Jersey and [Queen Anne entry] Usherette will probably be supplemented into the Duke of Cambridge Stakes."

Cloth Of Stars is a general 6-1 shot, with Ulysses shading Jack Hobbs for favourtism at 3-1.

Prix d'Ispahan winner Mekhtaal is one of four potential French-based runners at Ascot for owners Al Shaqab.

"Mekhtaal is on course for the Prince of Wales’s," said Al Shaqab's Rupert Pritchard-Gordon.

"He looks well and fit and has run recently. He runs well fresh so will do only one more very routine piece of work. Everyone is very happy with him and the one thing we'll be hoping for is that the weather isn't like last year. We'd want nice fast ground."

Mekhtaal's trainer Jean-Claude Rouget will also send last year's Coronation Stakes winner Qemah back to Ascot, while Al Shaqab could field one or both of a pair of Francois Rohaut-trained fillies in Al Jazi and Wajnah.

Pritchard-Gordon added: "Qemah looks great. Ribchester would obviously be a serious nut to crack but, as we all know, things can happen, so if unfortunately he were not to be there then the Queen Anne would come under consideration, while there is also the Duke of Cambridge.

"Al Jazi works at Deauville on Tuesday and the Diamond Jubilee has been the aim for some time. Wajnah has come out of the French Guineas very well and is still in the Coronation, while we will also look closely at the Prix Chloe."

Wajnah was the only filly who raced prominently in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches to be involved in the finish, although she had no answer to impressive winner Precieuse.

Precieuse was making her first start over a mile at Deauville and the daughter of Tamayuz – owned and bred by Brendan and Anne Marie Hayes – will take on dual Guineas heroine Winter after connections decided to pay the £35,000 late entry.

"She will be supplemented for the Coronation," revealed Chappet. "She's come out of her race well and everything's in place for her to run."

Chappet, who is yet to make a choice between the King's Stand and Diamond Jubilee for Finsbury Square – runner-up to Muthmir in last Sunday's Prix du Gros-Chene – will also be represented by impressive Chantilly winner Mister Five Euros in the Windsor Castle Stakes.