BROWN PANTHER can continue his progression by landing the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot for trainer Tom Dascombe and part-owner Michael Owen.

Owen has thrown himself head first into the racing game after his retirement from football and he is fortunate to be able to still be involved in sport at the highest level.

Brown Panther was bred by Owen himself out of his mare, Treble Heights, so the success he has enjoyed with the six-year-old surely means more to him than if he had just opened his cheque book.

Already a winner at the Royal meeting having taken the King George V Stakes at three, he has also finished second in the St Leger and run well in the Melbourne Cup for connections.

He appears to have really matured this season as he always needed plenty in his favour to show his best in previous years, but this campaign has seen him hack up at Chester and win the Henry II Stakes.