Frankel may have romped home on the opening day of Royal Ascot, but his full-brother Noble Mission faces a tougher task as he raises his sights to Group Two company on Friday.

Like his unbeaten sibling, Noble Mission is trained by Sir Henry Cecil and he steps him up in both quality and distance in the King Edward VII Stakes, a race often referred to as the Ascot Derby.

Noble Mission is obviously going to struggle to live up to the exploits of Frankel but is no slouch himself, as two wins in four starts proves.

After breaking his maiden at Newbury in May, Cecil turned him out again later that month to win the Listed Newmarket Stakes but he could not quite follow up back at that track when having to concede weight to his rivals.

The reopposing Thought Worthy finished a neck in front that and has since gone on to claim fourth in the Derby at Epsom.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Noble Mission's owner Khalid Abdullah, said: "They (Noble Mission and Frankel) are two totally different types of horse.

"Obviously he is stepping up to a mile and a half and he's coming off some good efforts, and a win, in Listed company.

"He was giving Thought Worthy 5lb last time at Newmarket but we hope he's still a progressive horse, although this is a big step up.

"It will be interesting and we will see what happens."

Cecil has a second string to his bow in recent Newmarket handicap winner Thomas Chippendale.

Winner of a Leicester maiden as a juvenile - when subsequent Kentucky Derby fourth Went The Day Well was second - Thomas Chippendale let down favourite backers on his reappearance in a competitive heat at Newbury.

He made amends when powering home at Newmarket two weeks ago and connections feel he deserves a crack at better company.

"He won very well last time. We thought he was a bit better than handicap company so we took the decision to run in the Group Two rather than the King George V Handicap," said Barry Simpson, racing manager to owner Sir Robert Ogden.

"It's a step up for him but we think he's up to it as he's a progressive horse. We will see how he gets on.

"He handles soft ground and he's won on it so it wouldn't be a concern for him, but he's a good-actioned horse so he may be better still on good ground."

Thomas Chippendale will be racing over an additional two furlongs this time but as a son of Oaks-placed All My Loving and proven middle-distance stallion Dansili, the longer distance causes little concern.

Simpson said: "We have no worries whatsoever about the step up in trip. He stayed 10 furlongs well and he is bred to need a mile and a half really."

The John Dunlop-trained Farhaan finished a close-up fourth behind Thought Worthy and Noble Mission at Newmarket on his seasonal bow.

The son of Jazil was returning from a near eight-month lay-off on that occasion but looked as though he might win before being swallowed up inside the distance.

Angus Gold, racing manager to owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, admits running in this race is not ideal, but hopes Farhaan will make the necessary progression.

He said: "He ran a very good race at Newmarket, he came there to win his race and blew up and got tired.

"In a perfect world we would have kept him to a mile and a quarter as we don't know if he will stay the trip, but we already had Mukhadram for the 10-furlong race (Tercentenary Stakes) and didn't want to run them against each other.

"We wouldn't want the ground to get too soft for him as that would just stretch his stamina even further.

"He's got to come on for his first run as he had a hold-up over the winter and missed quite a lot of work.

"I thought his comeback run was particularly good in that respect and I'd be hoping for a good performance."

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Astrology finished third to stablemate Camelot in the Derby and would be a likely favourite.

As well as Thought Worthy, John Gosden runs Shantaram while the Jeremy Noseda-trained Initiator completes the line up.