Reel defends crown against Enable Highland Reel will defend his King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes crown when facing nine rivals at Ascot on Saturday. Aidan O'Brien's five-year-old has won six times at the highest level overall and will line up on the back of a determined success in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at the Royal meeting last month. The Ballydoyle handler also saddles Highland Reel's brother, Idaho, another Royal Ascot winner in the Hardwicke Stakes. Enable is likely to provide the chief threat to the Irish raiding party. John Gosden's star filly was an impressive winner of the Oaks at Epsom and followed up in scintillating style in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh a fortnight ago. Gosden also runs Jack Hobbs, an easy winner of the Sheema Classic in Dubai before disappointing on fast ground at Royal Ascot in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, while another stablemate, Maverick Wave, is expected to employ pace-making duties. Sir Michael Stoute's Eclipse winner Ulysses steps back up in trip to a mile and a half. A third winner from Ascot's big meeting in June taking part is Saeed bin Suroor's Benbatl, who was fifth in the Derby before winning the Hampton Court Stakes. David Simcock runs Eclipse third Desert Encounter, while the in-form Clive Cox is represented by My Dream Boat, fourth in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud when last seen. International interests are catered for by the South American challenger Sixties Song, ridden by Gerald Mosse. Those not declared include the Charlie Appleby-trained pair of Hawksbill and Frontiersman, Mark Johnston's Dante and King Edward VII hero Permian and Algometer from Simcock's yard.
