Kieren Fallon, who drew first blood at Royal Ascot yesterday when winning the opening Coventry Stakes on Iceman, can take the feature honours tomorrow.

The champion jockey teams up with what he regards as his best mount of the meeting, Mr Dinos, in the £250,000 Gold Cup, the traditional showpiece of the entire Royal Ascot Festival.

Trained by Paul Cole, Mr Dinos has had two runs and two defeats this season, at York and Sandown, but a combination of unsuitable ground, inadequate distances and, on the first occasion, lack of peak condition have contributed to his downfall.

Tomorrow should see Mr Dinos re-instated as the staying king, a title he earned when winning this Group 1 race in terrific style 12 months ago.

It won't be easy. Papineau, his conqueror at Sandown last time, is in opposition again, along with three or four more potential dangers, but Mr Dinos, an out-and-out stayer is fancied to prove his ability as a marathon performer in this two-and-a-half mile centepiece.

Tomorrow's card kicks off with the Norfolk Stakes, which offers Blue Dakota the chance to extend his unbeaten sequence.

Jeremy Noseda's colt has been mightily impressive in his three races to date and looks to be the best juvenile colt seen out this season.

This Group 2 contest will either confirm or deny that suggestion. Eddie Ahern has the mount.

Frankie Dettori, on the mark yesterday aboard Refuse To Bend in the Queen Anne Stakes, has good prospects of adding the Ribblesdale Stakes to his list of scalps tomorrow.

Dettori teams up with Punctilious, winner of the Musidora Stakes on Knavesmire last month before failing to stay a mile and a half in the Epsom Oaks. She should be more at home back over this ten furlongs.

Mark Johnston's runners are often at their most dangerous once they strike winning form and Etmaam, fresh from a hard-earned success at York as recently as last Saturday, is impossible to ignore in the King George V Handicap.

Etmaam is nothing if not gutsy, as he proved on Knavesmire when getting up in the dying strides to nail the favourite Motive.

That race was over ten furlongs and the step up to a mile and a half should suit the Middleham challenger.

The well-regarded Buckeye Wonder, trained by the shrewd Michael Jarvis, is awarded the vote in the Hampton Court Stakes, while the talented and consistent Zonus should give Kevin Darley a good ride in the Britannia Handicap.

Local racegoers get chance of a double-header of live action tomorrow with an afternoon meeting at Ripon and an evening fixture at Beverley.

Henry Cecil's Invasian (3.55), a fluent winner at Haydock recently, is worth noting at Ripon, while at Beverley, the nap vote is awarded to Tim Easterby's Space Shuttle (8.15), successful at Doncaster last time when blinkered for the first time.

Thursday's tips:

Royal Ascot

2.30 Blue Dakota, 3.05 Punctilious, 3.45 Mr Dinos, 4.20 Etmaam, 4.55 Buckeye Wonder, 5.30 Zonus.

Ripon

2.10 Spirit Of France, 2.45 Government, 3.20 Merlin's Dancer, 3.55 Invasian, 4.30 Graft, 5.05 Amanda's Lad, 5.40 Ma Yahab.

Beverley

6.45 Life Is Beautiful, 7.15 Mac Cois Na Tine, 7.45 Midnight Parkes, 8.15 Space Shuttle (NAP), 8.45 Low Cloud, 9.15 Mountain Meadow.

Tomorrow's other meetings are at Ayr (evening, Flat) and Southwell (afternoon, Flat).

Updated: 12:21 Wednesday, June 16, 2004