The hardest thing about Royal Ascot is knowing where to start. Even fans of jump racing will warm to several of the runners in today's Ascot Stakes (memo to self: don't forget to back Nicky Henderson's Galient). Beyond that, several other themes will resonate as the week unfolds ...

Can Yeats win a third successive Gold Cup?

It certainly won't be a gentle stroll across the heath, as it has been for the past two years. The weight of history also burdens him in that numerous dual winners have failed to complete the hat-trick.

Yeats is the ninth dual winner since Sagaro gained his third Gold Cup victory in 1977. Whether he can emulate that majestic French stayer hinges entirely on how much sap remains in the old warrior's legs. The portents on that score are encouraging, since Yeats has been sparingly campaigned. A third triumph has always been high on Ballydoyle's agenda.

Should he achieve it, Yeats would supersede Le Moss and Ardross, a pair of dual winners, on the roll of honour. Yet while those two annexed the stayers' triple crown, Yeats has never come close. He is not as durable - if no less formidable on Gold Cup day, which is his raison d'être.

Victory for Yeats on Ladies' Day will also provide a litmus of the gallery's appetite for racing. Passion has eluded that concrete bowl of a winner's circle since its unveiling two years ago. Yeats is the only horse who might conceivably bring it to life.

Will there be a queen of Royal Ascot?

The glass slipper only fits the hooves of a filly who humbles boys in championship class. For this reason it is an elusive accolade, and one that went unclaimed last year. Two years ago it went the way of Ouija Board, but then, she was one of a kind.

Fleeting Spirit is no forlorn hope. What better than a lightning-quick diva to slap around those macho Aussie sprinters in the King's Stand Stakes? We could have our coronation as early as the second of today's races.

Or even the first. Finsceal Beo and Darjina contest the Queen Anne Stakes, having fought out the finish to last year's French 1,000 Guineas. Darjina prevailed on that occasion, as she did in two subsequent encounters. Now, as then, she is the more likely heroine - particularly in the absence of any rain. Her opponents are solid, yet unspectacular.

One thing looks assured. If no queen emerges from the first two races, she will almost certainly lie in waiting this year.

Is Bankable just that for the Royal Hunt Cup?

The formbook maintains that he is. Consider his credentials. A fast-improving horse with a reassuring 14lb in hand of the field; a previous course winner; a winner on fast ground and soft; tuned by a master in Luca Cumani; to most eyes a group horse masquerading in handicaps.

Bankable is all of that - and probably more besides. To back him at 7-4 in a 30-runner blitz down the straight mile, however, you would have to be out of your mind.

Will jockeys answer the call for restraint with the whip?

The burning question for some; a huge irrelevance for others. One thing is certain: racing can ill afford to ignore the implications of repeated whip transgressions at its top festivals.

Frankie Dettori's two-week ban for whip breaches aboard Ramonti had contrasting ramifications last year. Dettori's pragmatism over the suspension's severity showed that a jockey's priority is to win a group one race without heed to whip rules. Against that, Ramonti's subsequent exploits proved beyond doubt that he was not affected by the experience.

Racing insiders will not be surprised by that. Contemporary whips barely warrant that description, yet the issue now transcends racing's boundaries. Restraint is the best practical way to protect an integral aspect of skilful jockeyship. The call should not fall on deaf ears.

Why is the King Edward VII Stakes, a relatively unimportant event, worth a mind-boggling £236,600?

That is a good question. Answers on a postcard please.