A trip to Royal Ascot is on the agenda for Sea Moon if all goes according to plan on his seasonal reappearance at Goodwood on Saturday.

Sir Michael Stoute's colt did not make his three-year-old debut until last June when impressive in a York handicap.

Sea Moon then took a step up to Pattern class in his stride with a brilliant display in the Great Voltigeur Stakes on the Knavesmire, after which he finished a luckless third in the St Leger.

He signed off for the year with a fine second behind St Nicholas Abbey in the Breeders' Cup Turf, but missed an intended comeback in the Ormonde Stakes at Chester on account of the testing ground.

The four-year-old appears to face a relatively straightforward task as he faces three opponents on his return in the Southern Daily Echo Tapster Stakes.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner Khalid Abdullah, said: "He's in good form and he's been working nicely up to this.

"Obviously we hoped to take him to Chester, but this looks like a good place to start off.

"His training has been straightforward and we're looking forward to what we hope will be a big year for him.

"We're very pleased with the way he has progressed over the winter."

Sea Moon is still engaged in the Coronation Cup at Epsom on Derby day next weekend, but Grimthorpe admits that is very unlikely.

"I think the Coronation Cup will probably just come a little bit too soon, unfortunately," he said.

"If all goes well on Saturday, we'll probably look towards the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot."

The ratings suggest the horse who should give Sea Moon most to think about is Dandino.

Winner of the 2011 Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket, when trained by James Given, Dandino was beaten a head on his only previous visit to Goodwood in the 2010 Gordon Stakes.

He failed to take to hurdling when sent to Nicky Henderson and was moved to Fanshawe, for whom he made his debut when third in a Listed race at Nottingham in April.

Fanshawe said: "He seems really well at the moment.

"I thought that he ran well at Nottingham. It was his first run for a while and he ran a nice first race of the season.

"Hayley Turner has ridden him at home and she takes the ride on Saturday.

"We will see how he runs at the weekend and then we can make a plan regarding his future races afterwards."

The Hughie Morrison-trained Cill Rialaig and Berling, who is trained by John Dunlop for ABBA's Benny Andersson, complete the field.