AMADEUS WOLF (2.30) bids to show he's boss by rounding off Royal Ascot with a bang for Kevin Ryan in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes.

At the start of the five-day, Festival Ryan said he'd be happy to come away with at least "one winner", which means mission accomplished as far as that particular goal is concerned following the victory of Uhoomagoo on Thursday.

Having broken his Royal Ascot duck, Kevin now has the bit between his teeth and reports Amadeus Wolf to be "working very well" ahead of today's big target, boasting a colossal £350,000 in net prize money.

To add extra spice to the 19-runner six furlong dash, Tuesday's King's Stand hero from down under, Takeover Target, turns out again in the hope of emulating fellow countryman Choisir's achievement of landing both races in 2003.

"That will have just about put him right for the weekend," joked Aussie trainer Joe Janiak, who bought Takeover Target for a measly £500, yet still managed to beat the cream of Europe's speedsters in front of a stunned 54,000 crowd.

But if what Ryan says is right about his three-year-old, Amadeus Wolf is going to take some beating, principally because the 7lb weight-for-age allowance gives him a storming head start against older rivals.

It has never been in my nature to recommend short-priced horses, however the certain first or at the very least second favourite for the opening Chesham Stakes, Always Fruitful (2.30), holds outstanding claims.

Mark Johnston's youngster, owned by a hugely enthusiastic 20-strong syndicate, got to within four lengths of Tuesday's Coventry Stakes scorer, Hellvelyn, form which now looks like pure gold.

Johnston, a man not known to hide his light under a bushel, also has a good feeling about Bandari's prospects of taking the Hardwicke Stakes for a second year in a row.

"Even though he finished out of the money at Sandown last time he was hitting back at the end," said Mark, who has done a brilliant job keeping the money-spinning veteran seven-year-old in the peak of condition.

Even though Bandari (3.05) has a fine chance, ignoring fellow northern raider, Collier Hill, in the same mile-and-a-half Group 2 contest is not a good idea.

Collier Hill's globe trotting feats in the likes of Ireland, Sweden, and Dubai, have been well documented in this column over the past couple of years, therefore an each-way saver on Alan Swinbank's hardy gelding seems wise.

It normally pays to stick with an improving four-year-old in the Duke of Edinburgh Handicap, a theory that brings Alfie Noakes (4.55) slap-bang into calculations for the penultimate race of the five-day meeting.

Jockey Kerrin McEvoy steered the Amanda Perrett-trained gelding to a thrilling triumph on Derby Day, coming from a country mile back, then holding the late thrusts of both Gavroche and Consular in a three-way photograph.

According to my speed ratings Alfie Noakes has progressed significantly with each of his three outings thus far this season, an encouraging trend which puts him in with a massive shout for the £55,000 handicap.

The curtain comes down on the whole shooting match with the longest race on the UK calendar, the near two-and-three-quarter-mile Queen Alexandra Stakes, a real leg-buckler if ever there was one.

Baddam galloped his way into the reckoning with a clear-cut victory in Tuesday's Ascot Handicap, nonetheless I'm marginally more interested in Ebitkaar, who was the victim of severe traffic problems on his last visit to the course in May.

Not once, but twice was Ebitkaar (5.30) denied a clear run inside the final couple of furlongs, an unsatisfactory situation for which rider Martin Dwyer must take some of the blame.

Trainer John Dunlop has replaced Dwyer with Richard Hills, likely to take his mount wide and avoid trouble, rather than try more daring tactics up the inner and risk anything untoward on such a high-profile stage.