First run 80 years ago, in honour of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandfather. More recently, the King George V became memorable for Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla when Desert Hero won it in 2023, becoming the debut Royal Ascot winner in their ownership.

Featuring largely unexposed and progressive three-year-olds, it’s usually won by a horse with Group race aspirations. Those can reasonably be nurtured for the Wathnan representative, Tierra Del Toro: he comes here having made his seasonal debut in the always competitive London Gold Cup at Newbury, where he ran third to two more new Wathnan recruits, Lost Boys and Sahara King, staying on powerfully having been briefly tapped for toe.

He’s trained by Ralph Beckett, who knows exactly what it takes to win the King George V: he’s taken two of the past five. That in itself is some indication of Tierra del Toro’s prospects.