Calandagan and Jan Brueghel top two in King George betting
First run as the Festival Of Britain Stakes in 1951, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes has developed into one of racing’s midsummer highlights.
Staged at Ascot, It will be run this year at 4.10pm on Saturday July 26th.
The most-successful horse in the race is Enable, who won in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
With seven wins apiece the race’s most-successful jockeys are Frankie Dettori, whose triumphs include Enable’s three victories, and Lester Piggott, whose 1970 win on Nijinsky is etched into memories for its smooth and imperious nature. It was poetry in motion.
Nijinsky, who also won the 1970 Epsom Derby, was a three-year-old when he won the King George. Between 1970 and 1995 horses of that age won the race 18 times (from 26 races). However, between 1996 and 2024 (29 races), three-year-olds have won the race, which now carries £1.500,000 in prize-money, on just six occasions.
The race’s most-successful trainer is the now-retired Sir Michael Stoute (six wins). Aidan O’Brien has won the race four times – Galileo (2001), Dylan Thomas (2007), Duke Of Marmalade (2007) and Highland Reel (2016) – and is set to be represented on Saturday by Jan Breughel and Continuous, although substantial rainfall could cause a rethink. Keep an eye on the weather with rain having fallen on Monday at Ascot, with more forecast.
France has won the race nine times, including last year with Goliath, who was trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, who runs the likely favourite CALANDAGAN this time around.
The 11 furlong, 211 yards contest race may have lacked a bit in terms of depth of quality in recent years, but Saturday’s line-up looks set to redress the balance and a high-class and thrilling race looks assured.
Click here for Bar One Racing’s prices or Saturday’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes
The probable and possible runners...
JAN BREUGHEL (Aidan O’Brien) – The 2024 English St Leger got the better of CALANDAGAN (Francis-Henri Graffard) by a neck in the Group One Coronation Cup at Epsom on June 6th, although the latter has since won the Group One Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. They are two very talented performers.
KALPANA (Andrew Balding) – Last year’s Group One QIPCO British Champion Fillies and Mares Stakes winner – a race run over Saturday’s course and distance – has run well in defeat in her two runs since then, including when finishing second to WHIRL in the Group One Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh last time out. On Saturday, she will step up to the distance of her Ascot win for the first time since that success.
REBEL’S ROMANCE (Charlie Appleby) – A warrior of a horse, he has won 18 of his 26 races, seven of them Group or Grade One contests split across four countries (Germany, the USA, the UAE, and Hong Kong). He comes into the King George on the back of a course-and-distance win, in the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, in which he beat Al Riffa, who, on Saturday, was an easy winner of the Group Two Michael John Kennedy Curragh Cup. Now rated 123, he is not far behind CALANDAGAN (rated 125) and JAN BRUEGHEL (126) on official marks and isn’t one to go down without a fight.
WHIRL (Aidan O’Brien) – This year’s Epsom Oaks runner-up beat KALPANA by 1.25 lengths in the Group One Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh on June 28th but will be one pound worse off at the weights on Saturday. Theoretically, that makes it close between them, although the King George will be run over 1.5 furlongs further than the Curragh contest, which would set things up nicely between them.
GREEN IMPACT – He has run respectably this season in finishing sixth in the English 2,000 Guineas, third in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and sixth again, beaten 3.75 lengths, to LAMBOURN in the Irish Derby on his last three starts. He surely has more improvement in him although the King George represents a step up in class (he is currently rated 112).
CONTINUOUS (Aidan O’Brien) – The 2023 English St Leger has won just once in 13 starts since his Classic success and looks a shadow of his former self. He’s now rated 110 and will be on offer at a big price should he turn up at Ascot on Saturday.
LAMBOURN (Aidan O’Brien) – Currently rated 120, the Epsom and Irish Derby winner is reported to be likely to bypass Saturday’s prestigious race and, instead, be targeted at the English St Leger on Saturday September 13th, possibly via a run in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York on Wednesday August 20th. However, should conditions come up soft at Ascot, connections might reconsider.
