David Pipe's quirky but talented stayer Junior will defend his title in the Ascot Stakes at the Royal meeting on Tuesday week.
The chestnut has been called plenty of names in the past but his current owners Middleham Park Racing are certainly not complaining, as after winning this race 12 months ago, the eight-year-old went on to run well at Glorious Goodwood and was last seen winning the Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival.
Middleham Park racing manager, Tim Palin, said: "Everything is fine with him and the Ascot Stakes is very much the plan again. He's going to have top-weight this time, but he probably improved 30lb over the National Hunt season, so hopefully his Flat-race ability has improved a little too."
He added: "If I was pricing it up I'd probably stick him as the 7-2 favourite and I'd be a backer at that price. It's not an early closing race, so it's difficult to know what we'll be up against - there could be something lurking there on a nice weight, but we'll see.
"I certainly wouldn't swap him and hopefully he can do the same job as 12 months ago.
"Hopefully Seb Sanders will ride him again and we'll be using positive tactics. If we could end up in the winner's enclosure at Royal Ascot again, that would be brilliant.
"If he were to win or run well, we'd probably look at running him in some of the better staying races in Group class. He'd then be given a break and we'd freshen him up for the spring, when hopefully, he'd end up running in the Grand National."
Junior will not be the successful syndicate's only Royal Ascot representative, with recent Newmarket winner Bahceli and talented sprinter Victoire De Lyphar also on the list.
Palin added: "Hopefully Bahceli will run in the Britannia Stakes, which will be a wide-open race, but the end-to-end gallop should suit. Richard Fahey's Lily's Angel, who won the Lily Agnes before finishing third in the Hilary Needler, will probably step up to six furlongs for the Albany Stakes.
"Victoire De Lyphar is in the Wokingham Stakes. He disappointed a bit on his reappearance in a five-runner race at Haydock. The bigger field at Ascot and a strong gallop will suit him much better than a small-field race too, so hopefully he'll run much better."
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