In recent years, a great emphasis has been placed on turning Royal Ascot into a global event, the meeting all the richer for Wesley Ward's American speedsters that have blitzed the juvenile events, not to mention the giant Australian sprinters that have followed in the footprints of the imposing Choisir. The star act at Royal Ascot this season will once again come from overseas, though a bit closer to home this time, as continental Europe provides the star quality in the form of French superstar Treve.
According to Timeform ratings, Treve is the best horse in the world. A five-length demolition job over the top-class Japanese raider Orfevre saw Treve achieve a rating of 134, a figure which places her 1 lb superior to crack miler Toronado and impressive Dubai Duty Free winner Just A Way.
Treve, who made just the one start as a juvenile when successful in a newcomers' event at Longchamp, went through her three-year-old campaign unbeaten, gaining more admirers with each passing victory. A four-length romp in the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) brought Treve into the wider public eye, and the manner in which she overcame trouble in running to win the Prix Vermeille further bolstered the impression that she was a top-class performer in the making. The potential was there for all to see, but the ease with which she dismantled her rivals in a competitive-looking renewal of the Arc de Triomphe, Europe's premier race, was still startling. Always travelling powerfully - eye-catchingly so, in fact - Treve displayed an explosive turn of foot to quicken clear of her rivals, always in complete control from the moment she struck the front.
Treve obviously disappointed to some degree when losing her unbeaten record on her reappearance in the Prix Ganay, coming off worse in a pulsating two-furlong battle with Cirrus des Aigles, but the subsequent performances of her Longchamp conqueror puts a different light on things. Yes, the exciting, hitherto unbeaten Treve failed to overhaul an eight-year-old who had seemingly been close to retirement the previous season, but Cirrus Des Aigles is a remarkable veteran, still capable of showing top-class form under the right circumstances, and he has since registered a further two Group 1 wins, courtesy of triumphs in the Prix d'Ispahan and Coronation Cup. On ground softer than she had previously faced, up against an in-form and race-fit rival, there was no disgrace that Treve failed to see things out quite as strongly as Cirrus Des Aigles. Improvement is anticipated, though it is not necessarily required for Treve to return to winning ways at Royal Ascot, a mere reproduction of the bare form she displayed in the Ganay likely to be good enough.
Strictly on ratings, Treve's biggest challenge is likely to come from The Fugue, a three-time Group 1-winning mare who finished third in this contest last season. The Fugue, making her seasonal return, was given plenty to do by regular rider William Buick, but she stayed on well from a hopeless position, and subsequently showed herself to be better than that result implied by producing improved form to win the Yorkshire Oaks and the Irish Champion Stakes. She was disappointing dropped back to nine furlongs in the Dubai Duty Free Stakes at Meydan, however, and is by no means certain to start her European campaign here, the Pretty Polly Stakes also nominated as a potential target, so she can't be entertained as an ante-post proposition.
One place ahead of The Fugue in last season's Prince of Wales's Stakes was Mukhadram. Having been beaten off a mark of 101 in the Cambridgeshire on his final start as a three-year-old, Mukhadram almost pulled off a 14/1 shock here on his first start in Group 1 company, Paul Hanagan's bold front-running ride nearly paying dividends as his gallant mount was overhauled close home. William Haggas's charge further enhanced his likeable profile with a good placed effort in the Eclipse, and he showed admirable versatility with an excellent second in the Dubai World Cup on his return at Meydan. A tactically-versatile and reliable type, Mukhadram is sure to give a good account but will surely struggle to cope with an on-song Treve.
It is rare that Aidan O'Brien is without a representative in a Group 1 middle-distance race at Ascot, and Breeders' Cup Turf winner Magician looks like his strongest candidate at this stage, despite having produced a slightly lacklustre performance in the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time. Magician was weak in the betting at the Curragh, presumably on account of the easy ground, and he never looked like throwing down a meaningful challenge to the thriving Noble Mission, actually having to work hard enough to see off the vastly-inferior mare Euphrasia for second. Faster ground will see Magician to better effect, though the case remains that he will need Treve to underperform if he is to add to his top-level tally.
Unsurprisingly, the 7/4 on offer about Treve for the Prince of Wales's Stakes has long-since disappeared, now a general 8/11 shot, but she sets an exacting standard, arrives on the back of a perfectly respectable performance and cannot be opposed. At odds-on, Treve is hardly a fantastic ante-post proposition, but opposing her is surely futile, and Frankie Dettori can utilise his mount's outstanding turn of foot, leaving her rivals trailing.
