“Poor old Ascot” is not a phrase that sees much daylight given the track’s historic wealth and prestige, but it is undoubtedly a very tough break for the royal racecourse that what promises to be one of the best renewals of the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes this century will coincide with a 24-hour strike on the train line from Waterloo this weekend.
The unique possibility of three Derby winners lining up for the race has been scuppered by Adayar’s poor run in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes this month, but Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, respectively first and second in the Epsom Classic last month, are among 15 possible runners on Saturday along with last year’s Derby winner, Desert Crown.
Hukum, who beat Desert Crown in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown in May, is also in the likely field. As are the hugely popular Pyledriver, winner last year, and Emily Upjohn, the Coronation Cup winner, who will be Frankie Dettori’s last King George ride at his favourite track.
The half-dozen horses with the most obvious chance on Saturday are all priced at single-figure odds, and while the ground may well play a part in determining the eventual favourite, soft ground should not be an issue for any of the main players. High class and highly competitive are not always two sides of the same coin, but the 2023 King George promises to score exceptionally on both counts, making it all the more frustrating that the trains will not be running.
Ascot, like most of Britain’s major racecourses, has been struggling to return to its pre-pandemic attendance figures over the last season and a half. The course welcomed just 18,462 racegoers to last year’s King George, which it bills, entirely fairly, as the country’s “most prestigious open-age flat race”.
That is a long way short of the 26,408 who turned up in 2019, and not even halfway towards the post-2000 record crowd of 38,410 who saw Galileo beat Fantastic Light in 2001. The 2001 race was, admittedly, an exceptional renewal, with an unbeaten dual Derby winner taking on older horses for the first time in his career, but a crowd of between 26,000 and 30,000 remained the norm up until the pandemic.
With both Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel among the expected runners this weekend and Dettori aboard a fancied runner on the latest stage of his farewell tour, there would surely have been hopes of a return to 20,000-plus in the stands were it not for the near-impossibility of getting to Ascot on public transport.
Newbury’s experience under similar conditions two days ago, when nearly 19,000 racegoers turned up to see the Super Sprint (and Tom Jones), offers some cause for optimism. And with all due respect to last weekend’s feature race, the King George is a good deal more likely to be 2023’s “I was there” moment.
When compared to the great renewals of two decades ago, however, it still seems inevitable that the roar as the bell rings and the field turns for home will be a long way short of the noise that such an exceptional field deserves.
Joorabchian chases Group One goal
A first prize of £708,000 means that the King George has a significant role to play in several of the sport’s subplots, and a win for Aidan O’Brien in particular could prove to be a turning point in the race for the trainers’ championship. Not least as Charlie Appleby, the champion for the last two seasons, does not have a runner in Saturday’s race.
A win for King Of Steel, meanwhile, would be a huge moment for the purple and white colours of Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing operation, which have become increasingly familiar over the past five seasons.
Sandown 2.10 Libra Tiger 2.40 Arabian Crown 3.15 Soprano 3.50 Brave Knight 4.20 Tuxedo Junction 4.55 Surrey Belle
Worcester 2.20 Judge Earle 2.50 Bagheera Ginge 3.25 Peace Of Rome 4.00 Star Legend 4.32 Nadim 5.07 Sheila Nash
Doncaster 2.30 Impeller 3.05 Mile End 3.40 Glistening Nights 4.15 Shagpyle 4.45 Leap Year Lad 5.20 Dougies Dream
Yarmouth 5.30 Midnight Lir 6.00 Shobiz 6.30 Devasboy 7.00 Ramiro 7.30 Good Earth 8.00 Alnilam (nap) 8.30 Regal Empire
Newbury 6.15 Lenny’s Spirit 6.45 Royal Elysian 7.15 Be Prepared 7.45 Tin Fandango (nb) 8.15 Lunar Landscape 8.45 Daphne May
Amo is already in the top 10 in the owners’ table and could jump into the top three if King Of Steel – a 7-2 joint-favourite – comes home in front this weekend, giving Amo a first win at Group One level in the process.
The early years of the King George were dominated by landed owner-breeders, who were largely swept away by sovereign wealth from Dubai and the burgeoning Coolmore operation in Ireland from the late 1970s.
Uttoxeter 1.35 Liverpool Knight 2.10 Colonel Lesley 2.45 Rock On Tommy 3.20 He Is A Cracker 3.55 Classic Concorde 4.30 First Revolution 5.04 Presently
Ascot 1.50 Lokana 2.25 Tamilla 3.00 Global Esteem (nap) 3.35 Oneforthegutter 4.10 Alhambra Palace 4.45 Cuban Breeze (nb)
Thirsk 2.00 Latin Five 2.35 Nighteyes 3.10 Doubletalk 3.45 Duke Of Wybourne 4.20 Labalaba 4.55 Happier
York 5.00 Tele Red 5.30 Ascot Adventure 6.05 Arc Shadowfax 6.40 Oso Rapido 7.15 Electric Eyes 7.50 Spirit Dancer 8.20 Knebworth
Chepstow 5.09 Obama Army 5.40 Propitious 6.15 Send In The Clouds 6.50 Straits Of Moyle 7.20 Moondial 7.55 Dulcet Spirit 8.25 Kenstone
Newmarket 5.52 Shield Wall 6.27 Dan Dee Prince 7.02 Al Hargah 7.35 Naqeeb 8.10 Pastiche 8.45 Lordsbridge Girl
One can only imagine how arch-traditionalists might react to news that the owner giving Godolphin, Shadwell, Coolmore and the rest a real run for their money this season is a football agent.
