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Quiet racing week, so good time to continue looking ahead to next week's Royal meeting.

The Kings Stand Stakes over 5f has gone overseas for 5 of the last 6 years and even 'our' winner last year Equiano was the then-Spanish trained 2008 winner. So the logical place to start is with the foreign runners.

Currently heading the market is Aussie Star Witness, who has spend the past months trailing behind Black Caviar back home. Of course Overdose would be a major player on soft ground (unlikely, despite the mixed forecast for this week) but a very interesting contender is Todd Pletcher's Bridgetown. He first caught my eye in last years Breeders Cup Turf Sprint when running well to finish 4th to 3 horses drawn inside him on that ultra tight turf track. This season has seen 2 wins and a good 2nd on the Kentucky Derby undercard and everything about him suggests a fast, straight 5f will see him in a very good light.

Considering there are doubts about many of the other leading contenders (Lady of the Desert aimed at Golden Jubilee, Bewitched not confirmed, Sole Power talented but inconsistent, Astrophysical Jet an infection found after his disappointing reappearance to overcome) 1.5 points e/w @ 20/1 (H1lls, P.P) looks good value and given the recent record of US raiders to the Royal meeting, will be considerably shorter after declaration.

The other selection is the consistent Prohibit, who displayed his good current form in yesterday's Gros-chene at Chantilly. A course & distance winner last season, he'll still need his higher-rated opponents to under-perform to win but is overpriced given his reliability. 1 point e/w @ 20/1 (Lads)