King George VI Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

Irish raiders have been crossing the pond with much success over the last couple of seasons - on the flat and over jumps - and the betting indicates that one of their chief protagonists, Azamour or Grey Swallow, will carry off the prestigious prize that is King George VI Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.It's not hard to see why Azamour is a top-priced 9-4 after his excellent performance to land the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot at York last time. That victory was achieved over a mile and a quarter and while he has yet to tackle the mile and a half trip of the King George, his style of racing suggests it will be within his compass.However, I reckon that Grey Swallow, who can generally be backed at 7-2, is the one to beat. Although the score currently stands at 2-1 in favour of Azamour, who finished just in front of the selection in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and had him back in fourth when landing the Irish Champion Stakes in September, Grey Swallow looked to have improved with the winter under his belt when landing the Tattersalls Gold Cup on his seasonal reappearance at The Curragh in May.In that hot Group One event, Dermot Weld's charge hit the front over a furlong out and ran on strongly to beat Bago by three parts of a length with Azamour just over a length adrift in fourth. Admittedly, the latter was short of room close home and may well have finished a shade closer, but Grey Swallow did win on merit. That was over a mile and a quarter, and the son of Daylami is even better over Saturday's trip, as he demonstrated when beating North Light readily in last year's Irish Derby.The astute Weld has saved his charge for this race since and I believe that his patience will reap the rewards, as Grey Swallow possesses all the required attributes: pace, stamina, and a good turn-of-foot.Many will point to the fact that Azamour was not ideally suited by the good-to-yielding going that he was encountering at The Curragh. Sure, he is more effective on fast going, but the ground was on the quick side when Grey Swallow landed the Irish Derby, so there will be no excuses with regards to underfoot conditions on the day.Oaks heroine Eswarah should not be underestimated. She was having just her third career start when landing that fillies' classic at Epsom last month, and it will be a surprise should she not find further improvement. On the downside, the fairer sex have a poor record in this - one hasn't come close to taking this prize in the last 16 years - so she will need to be truly exceptionally to buck that trend.Last year's Arc winner Bago was a big disappointment at Saint-Cloud last time, only managing to finish third to Alkaased. He has looked vulnerable this season, even when winning on his reappearance, and there's no reason to think he will reverse the Tattersalls Gold Cup form with Grey Swallow.The likes of Ace, Gamut and Phoenix Reach are all worth their places in the line-up, but none of that trio look good enough to play anything more than a minor role, while Doyen, last year's winner of this, simply doesn't look the same horse, and he's hard to fancy.