Artorius, who is trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, will be one of three Australians in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes with the market leader starting from barrier eight in the field of sixteen.
The Leon and Troy Corstens-trained The Astrologist has drawn barrier six, while Peter and Paul Snowden's Capitalist colt Cannonball, who is backing up after his last placing in Tuesday's King's Stand Stakes, will start from four.
The Royal Ascot course is familiar territory to Artorius who dead-heated for third in the race last year with Jamie Spencer in the saddle.
Longines World’s Best Jockey James Mcdonald has been booked for Saturday's race, which will be his first race ride aboard the four-year-old after only partnering him in a jumpout at Flemington ahead of his Royal Ascot campaign.
This will be Artorius’ final racing campaign before retiring to stud at Newgate Farm in the Hunter Valley. Founder of Newgate Farm, Henry Field was looking forward to the race.
"James McDonald is riding him and he's very, very bullish on his prospects. The Freedmans feel that he's absolutely humming and he's a seriously proper horse," Mr Field said.
The race has been won by some of Australia’s best sprinters including Black Caviar, Merchant Navy, Starspangledbanner and Choisir, who is one of just three horses to complete the King's Stand/Jubilee double in the same year.
For an Australian comparison, the following table shows where our raiders were rated and what they ran winning England's most prestigious sprint. Note that Merchant Navy and Starspangledbanner were technically trained by Aidan O'Brien when they ran in the UK, but we're claiming them.
Year
|
Horse
|
Peak Aus Rating
|
Jubilee Rating
|
2018
|
Merchant Navy
|
120+
|
126
|
2012
|
Black Caviar
|
136
|
123
|
2010
|
Starspangledbanner
|
126
|
128
|
2003
|
Choisir
|
126
|
126
|
Artorius fits in just below most of these with a rating of 122 by Timeform at his peak which came in the Group 1 July Cup (1207m) at Newmarket last year. Merchant Navy had promised to be better than his 120 and confirmed that before the Diamond Jubilee, winning the Group 2 Greenlands Stakes (1207m) and running to 126.
His highest Australian-rated run was in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) with 121+ and a narrow fourth to Anamoe in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m), rated 118.