The King's Stand Stakes is the first port of call for the speedballs Bentley Biscuit, Takeover Target, Miss Andretti and Magnus and after that it's the Golden Jubilee Stakes on Saturday.

Australian sprinters are now acknowledged as collectively the best in the world, but it was only four years ago that Choisir sensationally advertised their worth by taking both Royal Ascot prestige contests.

This year's awesome foursome have already won 13 Group 1 prizes and over �3.5 million between them.

Gai Waterhouse, trainer of Bentley Biscuit, puts their prowess down to one of Australia's major assets. "We have oodles of hours of sunlight, " she said. "That affects everything, from the development of our horses to the time they can spend outside to the very grain that they eat. The sun gives it oomph and punch and the horses develop great strength of bone and speed." Attitude is another factor, according to Peter Moody, in charge of Magnus. "Our racing is pointed more towards speed and we tend to train that into horses, " he said.

The wizards from Oz are chalk and cheese in looks and heritage. Bentley Biscuit is a gelding who stands 16.2 hands high and weighs 553kgs. The six-year-old arrives on the back of three top-level wins back home.

Takeover Target is the original nags to riches story.

Four years ago Joe Janiak, a taxi-driver who trained part-time on a bush track and lived in a caravan, bought him as an unraced throwout for less than �500.

Janiak soon had to have 30 stitches in a head wound after his gelding floored him, but neither side bears a grudge. On Tuesday the bay will defend his Royal Ascot crown and he is holder of the Global Sprint Challenge.

Miss Andretti is the smallest of the quartet, but what she lacks in size she makes up for in grit and a devastating burst of speed.

She, too, has been primed by winning three Group 1 races in a row, and is likely to start as favourite on Tuesday.

Magnus, as an entire with stallion prospects, has most to lose this week. "If I feel we're harming his value then we'll turn around and go home, which could be as early as Tuesday, " said Moody. "Even for Royal Ascot we're not there for the sake of it. You can't eat glory when you're hungry."