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 Native Produce  The flying wizards from Oz will once again be at Royal Ascot, withTakeover Target, winner of the King's Stand Stakes two years ago,leading the raid on Tuesday's opening-day sprint feature. Theglobetrotting nine-year-old gelding showed himself as good as everin Singapore last month with a narrow defeat of compatriot Magnus,who will again oppose next week. But this year the home side may have more to say about thedestination of the first British leg of the Global SprintChallenge, a series that has lifted the profile of specialistspeedsters. And in particular, with two three-year-olds, old rivalsFleeting Spirit and Kingsgate Native. Fleeting Spirit, from Jeremy Noseda's Newmarket yard, is currentlyfavourite, on the strength of her scorching return to action 18days ago in the Temple Stakes at Haydock. Kingsgate Native, trainedby John Best at Hucking, Kent, will be making his seasonal debut inthe five-furlong dash, now restored to top-level status after 20years. The pair have met once before, when the filly narrowly beat thecolt in the Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood, but thereafter their pathsdiverged. Fleeting Spirit took a conventional route for one of hersex, talent and aptitude (Lowther-Flying Childers-Cheveley Park).But Kingsgate Native boldly went where few juveniles had gonebefore. He broke his maiden in a Group One contest against older horses,the Nunthorpe Stakes, and very nearly made it a double in thatcompany, running a brave second in the Prix de l'Abbaye, ridden onboth occasions by next week's pilot Jimmy Quinn. His performancesprompted the Cheveley Park Stud to acquire stallion rights, thoughhe will still race in the colours of Epsom-based former bookmakerJohn Mayne. The return of the Native is eagerly awaited, not least by Best. "Wehaven't run him simply because there hasn't been anything to runhim in without carrying a penalty," he said, "but he's in excellentorder. We've had no hold-ups at all and he had a decent racecoursegallop last week, and he's showing us he's still got the appetitefor it. It's going to be a tough rematch with Fleeting Spirit– that run at Haydock looked incredible – but we're upfor it." One of the son of Mujadil's weapons last year was his unusuallymature physique. "If someone had told you he was a four-year-old,you'd have believed them," said Best, "and of course against theolder horses he was getting all the weight allowances. The concernmust be that some of the others may have caught him up. "But he has definitely progressed physically, nonetheless, and I'mdelighted with what we've got. Jimmy said he was like a little bulland when Chris Richardson [Cheveley Park director] came down lastweek to see him he was very pleased. I see him every day and it wasgood to have a fresh, objective eye confirm what I think." Kingsgate Native's first experience of a racecourse came at theRoyal meeting, when he was beaten a head in the Windsor CastleStakes over Tuesday's track. The colt handles most ground but, withhis tactical hat on, Best is hoping for some ease. "I'm glad theKing's Stand is when it is," he said. "Fine weather is forecast allweek, so I think they'll have to produce genuine good ground on thefirst day, because it will dry up from there. And Fleeting Spiritwants it as fast as it can get." Kingsgate Native is also in the Golden Jubilee Stakes on themeeting's final day. "We'll see how things go on Tuesday," saidBest. "It looks as if he's still a serious horse – I wouldn'tswap him for anything – and it's going to be an excitingweek." Phillip Makin is in hospital with a crushed vertebra following afall on the gallops. The accident happened while Makin wasexercising horses at David Barron's Thirsk stable and the jockeycould be out of action for a month. Interesting? Click here to explore further