Prime Defender is expected to show his true colours when trying six and a half furlongs in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville on Sunday.

There’s been plenty of evidence from the first two days of Newmarket’s July meeting that those horses that raced prominently at Royal Ascot are struggling to reproduce their form.

Golden Jubilee hero Starspangledbanner features among 17 confirmations for the Darley July Cup on Friday.

Prime Defender will bid to prove his recent York triumph was no fluke when he crosses swords with a number of the same rivals in the Golden Jubilee Stakes.

Freddie Head reports Irish-bred Goldikova to be none the worse after being beaten into third in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp on Saturday.