The QEII Jubilee Stakes is technically speaking Royal Ascot’s sole Group One prize when the world-famous meeting finishes on Saturday. But in terms of quality, the preceding Group Two Hardwicke Stakes is surely a Group One by any other name.Half of the 12-strong field are proven top-class winners. They include Willie Mullins’s Breeders’ Cup champion Ethical Diamond, whose ownership, the HOS Syndicate, also run their valuable Saudi winner, Sons And Lovers, ridden by controversial French jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot.Aidan O’Brien will try to win the Hardwicke for a fifth time and Jan Brueghel is Ryan Moore’s pick, leaving no less than last year’s dual-Derby hero Lambourn in the role of second-string.The globetrotting Giavellotto tries his luck as does the French star Goliath, who two years ago hammered no less than the subsequent Arc winner Bluestocking in Ascot’s King George.Despite such an array of talent, the likely favourite, if ground conditions don’t quicken too much, is the top mare Kalpana. Santorini Star and the other French hope Best Secret are no back numbers either.It makes for an intriguing contest and one very different from when Jan Brueghel and Lambourn struggled in the mud at Epsom’s Coronation Cup. It’s a quick turnaround for them which could prove a factor, although for Ethical Diamond a strong tempo through the race is vital.That could suit others too, perhaps Goliath in particular. Catching the Francis Graffard gelding on a good day can be tricky but he impressed with his last start at Chantilly. It’s no negative either that his best career performance came over course and distance.The £1 million (€1.15 million) Jubilee represents an ideal scenario for Ascot’s global reach, with international starters from Japan, Australia, France, Ireland and even Denmark.The top Aussie mare Joliestar looks the benchmark given she’s superior to compatriot Overpass, who was placed in Tuesday’s King Charles III Stakes. Her trainer Chris Waller is also proven at bringing the right sort of material to Ascot.Japan’s main hope Satono Reve is back for another crack at the race having finished runner-up a year ago. Mixing it with Hong Kong’s superstar sprinter Ka Ying Rising is proof enough of quality to make Moore get off Donnacha O’Brien’s Comanche Brave. Boudot steps in for that ride. He rode O’Brien’s Fancy Blue to win the French Oaks in 2020.“Everything has gone to plan, and he goes there with a really good chance,” O’Brien commented on a colt that ran third in last year’s Jersey. “He likes fast ground and even though he’s only run once at Ascot, he ran pretty well.”Fozzy Stack broke his duck at the meeting with a Chesham success on Thursday and Thesecretadversary, who endured a nightmare passage in the Irish Guineas, should relish the Jersey’s seven furlongs.Down Royal hosts its Boylesports Ulster Derby fixture on Saturday, where Jessica Harrington has the two bottom-weights for the €100,000 feature. Wyman is just 1lb ‘wrong’ on ratings and could exploit an 80-mark. He wasn’t beaten far behind Asakir and Cannes in a maiden and the latter started favourite for Royal Ascot’s King George V Handicap, where he was unsuited by a slow pace.