Connections of Field Of Gold are optimistic he is "ready enough to get the job done" on his return from injury in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.
Following a narrow defeat in the 2000 Guineas, the grey son of Kingman went on to establish himself as the season's star three-year-old miler with breathtaking victories in the Irish Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
John and Thady Gosden’s charge returned lame following a shock defeat in Goodwood’s Sussex Stakes in July, ruling him out of several late summer targets, but he is reportedly back on-song ahead of his Qipco Champions Day comeback.
"I think we’re all looking forward to seeing him back," said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owner-breeders Juddmonte.
"He’s obviously not run since Goodwood, but the positive to that is he’s a fresh horse, he’s had a break and he’s coming back into it fresh and well. I think both John and Thady are happy his fitness is where he needs to be, so hopefully he’s ready enough to get the job done.
"He has no problem with the track and the ground will be nice. It’s obviously a straight mile rather than the round mile he won over in the St James’s Palace, but he won the Irish Guineas and the Craven over a straight mile and ran well in the Guineas at Newmarket, so I don’t think a straight mile holds any great worries."
Few would begrudge Richard Hannon’s Rosallion an overdue day in the sun having been beaten a nose in the Queen Anne, a neck in the Sussex and a short head in the Prix du Moulin this season, while the Karl Burke-trained Fallen Angel has won her last three starts at Group One level against her own sex and now has another try against the boys.
Richard Brown, racing adviser to owners Wathnan Racing, said: "She’s in top form and she put a kilogram on for winning the Sun Chariot remarkably, I just couldn’t believe it when Karl told me that.
"She’s come out of Newmarket in great nick and has taken her form to the next level. She’s won her last three for us, all Group Ones, and she’s a real flagbearer for Wathnan now who we’re excited to see run on Champions Day.
"Taking on the boys is a huge ask and any time you race against colts it’s a big task for a filly, but especially when the ones you are taking on are the likes of Field Of Gold, Rosallion, Docklands and Never So Brave.
"Whether she will be good enough I don’t know, but what you do know is she will certainly run a brave race and if she gets into a battle, she’ll knuckle down and give it her best as she always does."
Never So Brave has also won his last three races for Andrew Balding, who also saddles the supplemented Park Stakes winner Marvelman.
"Never So Brave has done nothing wrong this year. He won a Group One last time over seven furlongs and he’s a high-class horse who deserves his chance in this race," said the Kingsclere handler.
"We were very impressed with Marvelman in the Park Stakes at Doncaster, he has always threatened to be a high-class horse and I think he really is developing into that."
French raider Facteur Cheval has filled the runner-up spot in the last two editions of the QEII and returns in a bid to make it third time lucky.
Trainer Jerome Reynier said: "Facteur Cheval ran a while ago, back at Royal Ascot in June and he was very tired afterwards, he lost a lot of condition too.
"We gave him a lot of time during the summer, because he runs so well fresh we thought it would be a good idea to go straight for the QEII, where he has run so well for the past two years.
"Clearly there are some very good horses in the race and he’s an outsider, but he was able to show the world he was the best when he won at a big price in Dubai."
The Lion In Winter has not fulfilled expectations so far this season, having been tried over a variety of distances, but Aidan O’Brien feels he could outrun his odds on Saturday.
He said: "When we made the decision to go to the Derby he had to have a run, so we went to the Dante but he wasn’t ready for that, and then we went to the Derby and he didn’t stay.
"From there we viewed him as a miler, he went to Deauville and ran a lovely race (third in Prix Jean Prat) and then he went back to Deauville (10th in Prix Jacques le Marois) and it was a bit of a non-event that day, so we kind of put a line through that run altogether.
"He ran a great race the last day in Longchamp (third in Prix du Moulin) and we think he’s gone the right way since.
"It hasn’t been straightforward and there have been twists and turns but that’s not unusual and we’re happy with where he is for Saturday."
