Weights have been unveiled for the two feature handicaps at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, the £250,000 Qatar Stewards' Cup and the £150,000 Betfred Mile.
Three horses share top-weight of 9st 10lb in the six furlong Stewards' Cup - Growl (Richard Fahey), runner-up in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint at Ascot in 2016, Perfect Pasture (Mick Easterby), a Listed winner at Windsor this season and Duke Of Firenze (David Griffiths), a seven-time winner who was a close fifth behind Dancing Star in the 2016 renewal.
Heading the ante-post market with most bookmakers is Projection (9st 6lb, Roger Charlton) who ran an excellent race in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot when he finished third to Out Do, beaten three quarters of length.
The four-year-old son of Acclamation competed in the consolation £75,000 Qatar Stewards' Sprint Handicap in 2016 and came home a close fifth when denied a clear run in the closing stages.
Also prominent in the ante-post betting market are Godolphin's progressive four-year-old Culturati (9st 2lb, Charlie Appleby), winner of his last three starts, and Raucous (9st 5lb, William Haggas), who was eighth in the Wokingham after a troubled passage through the race.
Alex Smith, representing both the Royal Ascot Racing Club, owners of Projection, and Raucous's owners, Highclere Thoroughbred Racing's Melbourne syndicate, commented: "The Qatar Stewards' Cup is a live option for both Projection and Raucous. Both have come out of Royal Ascot very well.
"At Royal Ascot, they were both drawn on the wrong side but ran very well. Raucous got shuffled back which left him with a lot to do, while Projection was bang there and couldn't have done any more. If Projection had been drawn on the other side of the track, he must have gone very close.
"The Qatar Stewards' Cup is very much a target we are looking towards with both horses."
The remarkable Hoof It (9st 1lb, Mick Easterby), now a 10-year-old, won the Stewards' Cup under top-weight back in 2011 and recorded another memorable triumph in 2016 when taking the Stewards' Sprint Handicap. He has yet to start in 2017.
Recent Listed winner Morando (9st 13lb) heads the weights for the £150,000 Betfred Mile, one of the highlights on day four of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, Friday, August 4.
The Roger Varian-trained four-year-old is 10/1 joint-favourite with the sponsors following a short-head success on his seasonal return in the Midsummer Stakes at Windsor on July 1.
Blair House (9st 2lb, Charlie Appleby) is also prominent in the betting after going down by half a length to Zhui Feng (9st 6lb, Amanda Perrett) in the Royal Hunt Cup.
A host of horses who ran in the Royal Hunt Cup could also re-oppose Blair House and Zhui Feng including third home Tashweeq (9st 10lb, John Gosden) and Abe Lincoln (8st 13lb, Jeremy Noseda), who was sent off favourite at Royal Ascot but could only finish 15th.
Hors De Combat was 13th in the Royal Hunt Cup but the six-year-old had previously produced several fine runs in handicap company for trainer Denis Coakley this season, headed by a neck second to subsequent Listed winner Oh This Is Us at Bath in April.
The six-year-old started 2017 with two placed efforts out in Meydan, Dubai, and showed a high level of form in Pattern company for his former handler James Fanshawe, including a close second in the Group Three Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes at the Qatar Goodwood Festival in 2014.
West Ilsley-based Coakley commented: "Hors De Combat is more than likely to run at Sandown this weekend. It depends on the going as he likes decent ground.
"After that, we will have a look at either the Betfred Mile or going back to Ascot for the seven-furlong handicap the weekend before.
"The first three in the Royal Hunt Cup were up there the whole way. They went steady and no one came from behind. Hors De Combat didn't get any type of run and he also got stopped in the Victoria Cup at the same course in May.
"He had some good form in smaller fields at Goodwood, although you need to have a good draw in a big handicap round there."
Other contenders include the 2015 winner Belgian Bill (8st 13lb, George Baker), who could try to become the first horse to win two runnings and Victoria Cup scorer Fastnet Tempest (8st 13lb, William Haggas).
There is a safety limit of 28 for the Qatar Stewards' Cup and 20 for the Betfred Mile. Horses that miss the cut for the Qatar Stewards' Cup are eligible for the consolation race, the £75,000 Qatar Stewards' Sprint Handicap, which is the opening contest on Saturday, August 5.
There is a scratchings deadline for both races on Tuesday, July 11.
