IF you’re searching for a Gold Cup horse (of the Royal Ascot kind), the Vintage Crop Stakes (4.35 Navan) isn’t a bad place to look.

Kyprios started his all-star staying campaign here last season and when he went on to strike gold at Ascot, he was only bridging a gap of eight years to the previous Vintage Crop-Gold Cup double-upper Leading Light.

If you’re looking for a Gold Cup horse, it’s also worth looking at the previous season’s St Leger. Subjectivist and Stadivarius were both beaten at Doncaster before progressing into top class stayers while Dee Ex Bee and Nayef Road are also good examples, having gone on to place in Gold Cups.

With those two denominators, the most interesting horses in today’s Vintage Crop with regard to the Gold Cup are Emily Dickinson and French Claim, who finished fifth and seventh to Eldar Eldarov on Town Moor last September but now have the chance to get on the Gold Cup trail proper.

Naturally, Emily Dickinson will appeal more to some, given her Coolmore connections’ love for star stayers. She kept on steadily in the St Leger and further stamped her Gold Cup potential by winning the Group 3 Loughbrown Stakes impressively on her final start last season.

She is the choice of Ryan Moore over Bolshoi Ballet, with her proven stamina and class a likely sway in that decision.

French Claim has the advantage of a run this term, which handily came at this course when he was in a different league to a useful sort in Taipan, who went close to winning at Tipperary on Thursday.

His run in the St Leger was unusual in that he raced wide and in front, before coming back to the field, and holding his position relatively well despite being hampered badly. He is not bred to be a stayer per se, but he has shaped well so far, and gets another chance to prove himself today.