Ballydoyle's Star goes for Gold Aidan O'Brien is confident Australian recruit Starspangledbanner is ready to show his true colours in Saturday's Golden Jubilee Stakes. The Choisir colt showed smart form at a variety of trips Down Under and was a promising fifth on his Ballydoyle debut in what could yet prove an informative renewal of the Duke of York Stakes on the Knavesmire. O'Brien, just denied a fifth victory in Thursday's Gold Cup with Age Of Aquarius, said: "We're very happy with him. "When he ran at York he hadn't been with us that long and we were just running him to get him started. "We were happy with his run, he ran a nice race and he came back from York very well. We've been happy with him since. "He shows loads of speed at home, but he is a horse that gets six furlongs well. "He got a little bit tired at York, but that would be understandable and we gave him an easy three weeks so he was just ready to run, but we were very happy with him." Khalid Abdullah is already enjoying a fantastic week with Byword and Twice Over giving the leading owner at one-two in the Prince of Wales's Stakes and Timepiece winning the Sandringham Handicap. In Saturday's feature he is represented by Duke of York runner-up Showcasing and the third home Main Aim, who has gone on to subsequent success at Haydock. Abdullah's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said: "I think that Showcasing has a bit more zip than Main Aim. "Main Aim is quite a versatile horse, he can run over anything between six furlongs and a mile and I probably think six and a half to seven furlongs is his best. "That being said, he ran on really well in the Duke of York Stakes and he deserves to take his chance here, especially on his July Cup run where he got a bad bump." The Jeremy Noseda-trained Fleeting Spirit makes her third visit to the Royal meeting having been placed in the last two renewals of the King's Stand Stakes. The five-year-old has been off the track since finishing down the field in the Breeders' Cup Sprint in November but part-owner Andy Stewart does not believe a lack of fitness will be an issue. Stewart, whose own colours are carried by the likes of dual World Hurdle winner Big Buck's, said: "We're looking forward to it and we'll see if we can go one better than last year when we were blown away by the Australian horse Scenic Blast in the King's Stand. "Jeremy wanted to go for this race this year and Richard Hughes got the hang of it on Canford Cliffs the other day, so I'm very happy he's taking the ride! "The horse is ever so well and her history of running first time out is pretty impressive. "We didn't think it was worth running in a Group Two before coming here and Jeremy had always said he wanted to go straight to Ascot, so I can assure you we're not worried about the fitness. "You've got to respect Showcasing and all the others but the ground will suit us and there will be no excuses if she doesn't run a good race." Marchand D'Or was one of the favourites for this race in 2008 but after losing his way somewhat for Freddie Head, he was switched to Mikel Delzangles at the start of this year. The move seems to have done him good judged by his comeback win at Longchamp and a close third at Chantilly. "The horse is fine and travelled well," said Delzangles. "There are 24 runners so you need a lot of luck in the race and he's a horse who has to be ridden from the back, so we have to be lucky. "He is drawn in stall three and it looks as though it is better to be on the other side, but we will see." Joining Marchand D'Or on the trip from France will be the Alain de Royer-Dupre-trained pair of War Artist and Varenar. War Artist will be having his first start for the trainer following a successful Dubai campaign for James Eustace earlier this year, while Varenar drops back to six furlongs having been campaigned over further. "It will be the first time War Artist has run for me and while he looks well, I have no idea how good he could be," said the trainer. "He has some good form and looks a good horse. His work has been good but he has not done too much as I do not like to do too much with sprinters. "Varenar looks better than he did when he last ran in Cologne, but there is still a question about the trip. "He is a good horse but he has never run over six furlongs and we do not have many sprinters in France, so I do not know what his level is. "Good to firm ground would be good for War Artist and Varenar might like it a bit softer."
