Twice Over team determined to Eclipse unlucky Royal Ascot run

The five-year-old could have been counted a slightly unlucky loser in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot as he encountered traffic problems before flashing home to finish a narrow second to Byword.

Cecil has been delighted with his subsequent progress, and hopes compensation awaits in this weekend's highlight. "The Eclipse will be interesting as Twice Over seems in very good form," said the trainer. "Personally, I thought he was a little unlucky at Ascot as he got pushed a bit far back and had nowhere to go. I hope at Sandown he has a clear run and that there are no excuses."

Jockey Tom Queally shares Cecil's beliefs from the Royal meeting. "Henry and I were disappointed afterwards as we both thought we could have won," he told his blog on www.racinguk.com.

"As I've said before we wouldn't be afraid of taking on the winner Byword again. The opposition here doesn't include Byword and there are a few question marks over them.

"Zacinto might struggle to stay the trip up the Sandown hill, Dar Re Mi hasn't run since Dubai, where she had a hard race and hopefully we have Mawatheeq covered after beating him in the Champion Stakes last year. It's only a small field so there should be no hard luck stories, and even if they do go a touch slow up front it won't affect us, and we'll never be more than four lengths off the pace."

John Gosden expects the big race to bring Dar Re Mi to her peak. This will be the first time Andrew Lloyd Webber's mare has competed on the racecourse since claiming the Dubai Sheema Classic at the end of March.

Gosden felt she had endured a demanding campaign in the latter half of 2009, which saw her win the Yorkshire Oaks, get controversially demoted from victory in the Prix Vermeille, finish fifth to Sea The Stars in last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and then third to Conduit in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

Fresh from a break, Dar Re Mi returns over ten furlongs for the first time since landing the Pretty Polly Stakes last June and faces just five rivals in the Esher course's annual highlight.

"Obviously she had the run in the Breeders' Cup and then didn't have a lot of time off until we brought her back in January to get her ready for the Dubai Sheema Classic," said Gosden. "It was a pretty short holiday and so she has had a much longer holiday before this race. It's her first run back, so it will put her spot-on, I'd say. She's in good form and although it's over 10 furlongs, this was the obvious first target."

Simon Marsh, racing manager for the Lloyd Webber family, confirmed the musical guru would be present at Sandown.

A drop back to a mile has been the making of Rule Maker and he should prove difficult to beat in Ayr's Campbeltown Bar Stewart Scott Memorial Handicap tomorrow.

A creditable second on his racecourse introduction over ten furlongs at Newcastle prompted connections to step him up to a mile and a half, but it ultimately proved the wrong decision as he was well beaten into fourth.

A big drop in trip at Windsor seemed to bring out the best in him, however, as he pulled readily clear of a smart sort in Give Your Verdict.

An initial rating of 84 on his handicap debut seems fair enough and the fact he is Jeremy Noseda's only runner on the card offers further encouragement.

The booking of title-chasing jockey Paul Hanagan has to be another plus.

Dies Solis shed his maiden tag in style at Doncaster last week and the three-year-old can follow up in the totetrifecta Flexi Betting Handicap.