A dozen individual Group One winners feature among 28 entries for the £360,000 Investec Coronation Cup (In Commemoration Of St Nicholas Abbey) at Epsom Downs on Investec Derby Day, Saturday, June 7.
The Group One mile and a half contest for older horses boasts an outstanding roll of honour, featuring greats such at Mill Reef, Rainbow Quest, Triptych, Daylami, Yeats and more recently St Nicholas Abbey, who made the race his own.
St Nicholas Abbey fractured a pastern during routine exercise in July last year and, after a brave six-month battle at Fethard Equine Hospital, contracted an inoperable bout of colic in January and passed away.
This year's Investec Coronation Cup will be run in remembrance of the son of Montjeu, who became the first three-time winner of the famous race thanks to victories in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
St Nicholas Abbey's trainer Aidan O'Brien has an enviable record in the race, registering seven wins, and Ireland's champion handler is responsible for seven entries this year. They include last year's Investec Derby hero Ruler Of The World, Breeders' Cup Turf scorer Magician and Kingsbarns, who has only had two starts since winning the Racing Post Trophy in October, 2012.
Also engaged is 2013 St Leger victor Leading Light and Irish Oaks heroine Chicquita, who joined O'Brien after realising 6,000,000 euros at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale in November.
Andre Fabre also has an outstanding record in the Investec Coronation Cup, recording six victories with six different horses, and the 24-time French champion trainer could be represented by Flintshire.
The lightly-raced four-year-old, owned by Khalid Abdullah, burst onto the scene with an eye-catching victory in a Group Three contest at Chantilly in June and took the step up to Group One in his stride with an equally impressive performance in the Grand Prix de Paris over a mile and a half at Longchamp in July.
He subsequently finished fourth in the Prix Niel and eighth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe over the same course and distance in September and October respectively.
Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager to Khalid Abdullah, reported: "There are very few mile and a half Group One races for older horses in the early half of the season and the Investec Coronation Cup is a possibility for Flintshire.
"He has done well over the winter, but has been a bit slow to come to hand so everything would have to go smoothly between now and June. He has been in better form lately though and the Coronation Cup is certainly a race we will look at.
"He ran pretty well in the Prix Niel, but the ground was just too soft for him in Arc. He has a long, flowing action and definitely wants good ground or better.
"We are obviously hoping he can improve again this year and there are some races in May that he could take in first, but we will just have to see how he goes."
Khalid Abdullah, victorious with Rainbow Quest (1985) and Sunshack (1995), is also responsible for Brass Ring (John Gosden) and Retirement Plan (Lady Cecil), who both had three starts last season, each winning a maiden and a handicap, before having their seasons cut short through injury.
Lord Grimthorpe added: "Brass Ring and Retirement Plan are both potentially nice staying horses.
"Retirement Plan pricked a foot after winning at Goodwood, but it got a bit more complicated than that and we had to clean it up. He has been fine since then and has wintered pretty well.
"We have always thought he was a progressive horse and he looked like he would be a nice stayer - he has obviously got the pedigree to be (Monsun ex Passage Of Time) - but we are slightly in unknown territory.
"Likewise with Brass Ring who looked like a nice, progressive sort. He had a slight injury which held up his season and we also gelded him, so we are starting slightly from a clean sheet of paper with him as well.
"It's early days yet and there are obviously races like the John Porter, but we will just have to see. Everything would have to go very smoothly for them to step up to Group One company at Epsom."
Other notable entries for the 2014 Invested Coronation Cup include three-time Group One winner Cirrus Des Aigles, from the French stable of Corine Barande-Barbe, and the highly-regarded Telescope (Sir Michael Stoute), who was last seen winning the Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes at York in August.
There is a possible German challenger in Empoli, fourth in last weekend's Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan, and his trainer Peter Schiergen was successful in 2002 with Boreal.
Ralph Beckett has put in last season's Investec Oaks one-two, Talent and Secret Gesture, while Charlie Hills has entered Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Just The Judge and Ed Dunlop is relying on 2012 runner-up and globetrotting Red Cadeaux.
