French invaders formidable in Prince of Wales's

Vision d'Etat can raise the French flag over the quintessential English race meeting at Royal Ascot on Wednesday in a competitive renewal of the Group 1, $735,000 Prince of Wales's Stakes.

Perfectly suited to 1 1/4 miles, last year's French Derby winner is coming off a deceptively easy half-length victory in the Group 1 Prix Ganay on April 26 at Longchamp. Olivier Peslier hops across the English Channel for the ride aboard the Eric Libaud-trained Vision d'Etat.

Another French invader looms large in Never on Sunday. Twice a stakes winner going 1 1/4 miles last year, he won the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan at 1 1/8 miles, 55 yards on May 17, beating Breeders' Cup Mile winner Goldikova into seventh place. Trained by the red-hot Jean-Claude Rouget, he will be ridden by the equally hot Christophe Lemaire.

Tartan Bearer outdueled Pipedreamer to win the 1 1/4-mile, Group 3 Gordon Richards Stakes off a 10-month layoff on April 25 for Michael Stoute. An unlucky third in the Irish Derby in his previous start, he is fresh and still improving but perhaps not quite deserving of 7-4 favoritism. Virtual took the one-mile Group 1 Lockinge Stakes last time but is untested at 10 furlongs while two-time Group 2 winner Trincot, second in the Group 1 Premio Presidente della Repubblica in his first start for Godolphin on May 17, has a good chance to crack the first three, as does Lockinge third-place finisher Twice Over.

Wesley Ward's quixotic joust at Royal Ascot glory continues with Jealous Again in the Group 2, $147,000 Queen Mary Stakes, a five-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies. Jealous Again won her maiden first time out at Keeneland but was a beaten favorite in the Grade 3 Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill Downs, finishing second to stablemate Aegean after leading most of the way. She will be making her first start on turf and meeting listed winners Don't Tell Mary and Misheer. However, the Mark Johnston-trained Capercaillie, a precocious Kentucky-bred daughter of Elusive Quality, is the pick to improve her record to 3 for 3.

The edge seems to have come off three-time Group 1 winner Lush Lashes since she flopped in the Hong Kong Cup in December. A dull third last time vs. colts in the 1 5/16-mile Tattersalls Gold Cup, Lush Lashes will try to get back on track in the Group 2, $204,000 Windsor Forest Stakes against her own sex over the straight mile course. She won last year's Group 1 Coronation Stakes over the right-handed Ascot mile and appears to have a class edge over recent Princess Elizabeth Stakes winner Eva's Request and Heaven Sent, who won the Group 3 Dahlia Stakes last time, but could be vulnerable to them both if not back to her best.

In the Group 3, $130,000 Jersey Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Donativum tries to bounce back from his fourth-place finish in the listed King Charles II Stakes, but the selection is Loch Linnhe, the eight-length winner of a Newmarket maiden in his May 23 debut.

:: VIDEO: