Ascot: King George No Soft Option For Auguste Rodin

You've heard for a while that Saturday's edition of the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S. is a special one. “Race for the ages” has been bandied about and for good reason given the accumulation of top-class mile-and-a-half horses set for the Ascot joust. What had for so long been starved of a meaningful intergenerational clash and threatened to become a bygone curio has suddenly been dusted off and revived due largely to the presence of the Derby winner.

Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is no ordinary Derby winner either, displaying pace as he closed out the Blue Riband that can only be described as phenomenal. Thankfully, the deification of speed confined solely to distances no further than 10 furlongs can now be dispelled given that we can see the evidence of what a colt like Ballydoyle's newest star can do over this sacred trip of a mile and a half. For too long, a colt with the immense commercial significance of Auguste Rodin wouldn't have been here for this race, yet here he is.

Despite the unflattering visuals of his finish to the Irish Derby, Auguste Rodin was quick there too but what he doesn't need is soft ground, as we found out at Newmarket. Ascot's midweek rain has ensured that the surface is not going to be conducive to the kind of alacrity that he has shown in his two Derbys, yet connections have never wavered in their commitment to be present in this great event. Friday's two course-and-distance handicaps were slowly-run, but still they were completed in times between :11 and :12 seconds slower than standard, so that's what we are dealing with. Even if the surface dries ahead of Saturday afternoon, Auguste Rodin will have to produce something extra as he seeks dominion over his elders.

“The better the ground, the better it will suit him,” Aidan O'Brien said. “We wouldn't want it getting any worse. He's a beautiful mover, he doesn't raise his feet much. We'll definitely walk the track, obviously.”

Ryan Moore added, “This race is as good as it gets in recent years and certainly in terms of depth, even with the no-shows. We'd like to think Auguste Rodin is towards the top of the list of the most likely winners though and [it was] a strong Derby, [so] we expect him to be very competitive here.”

Irish Derby (G1)
2.410 m – 1.250.000 EUR – for 3yo colts
Curragh

Auguste Rodin (IRE)
(3C Deep Impact – Rhododendron , by Galileo)
J : Ryan Moore
T:A.P. O'Brien
O: M Tabor & D Smith & Mrs J Magnier & Westerberg
B : @coolmorestudpic.twitter.com/zvVpvLf7Nd

— (@WorldRacing1) July 2, 2023

Kings And Queens Of Speed

What makes this King George especially strong is the presence of multiple runners able to produce outstanding time performances, not least the physical giant King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) whose blast from three to two out in the Derby was undeniably that of a top-class 3-year-old. He might have been getting tired due to lack of match-fitness as the O'Brien runner outstayed him at the death, but his stamina for this trip is not as-yet fully proven given that his G2 King Edward VII S. success was gained off a notably moderate pace. A day before King Of Steel put in that powerful sectional in the Derby, Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) had blown by a significant peer in Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) over the same course and distance to win the G1 Coronation Cup with the killer blow being her rapid :10.52 split to two out. Only the very best can explode in that manner, even allowing for the speed-inducing nature of Epsom at that point of the race, while Westover went to the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud next time and ran a hole in the wind.

Horses For Courses and Points To Prove

   Ascot is very much a track that sees horses that have performed there come back time and again, so that bodes well for last year's winner Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) who boasts a perfect record in a total of three course-and-distance runs. Emily Upjohn and Westover were caught out by the initial downhill run from the stalls in this 12 months ago, with the former over-racing under restraint and the latter charging off too fast through the early stages. The Gosdens' filly has returned in the interim to win a G1 British Champions Fillies & Mares S. on ground a touch worse than this, so she has little to prove while Westover looks a more tractable character at four and should have a strong pace to slip behind this time.

That exacting tempo provided by the runaway version of Westover and the Ballydoyle stalwart Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) last year should be in evidence again given the presence of Bolshoi Ballet (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}), so the race set-up will tell us just how good Pyledriver really is. For a horse that is always prone to being slightly under-valued by the press, the indomitable 6-year-old is some achiever and Willie Muir is undaunted by this test.

“We'll go there and run our race and see how good everyone else is,” he said. “They've all got great credentials, they're all horses that have been out and proved themselves this year. They're all there to go and have a go.”

As it stands, PYLEDRIVER is heading to this year's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes!

Let's relive his incredible winning performance last year.

Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/Cru0n1OUts

— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) July 19, 2023

Free Hit For Hukum

Days before Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) brought his brilliant 3-year-old campaign to a dramatic climax, his full-brother Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) was annihilating his rivals over this course and distance in a soft-ground G3 Cumberland Lodge S. having been subdued by Hamish (GB) (Motivator {GB}) in the G3 September S. a month earlier. At that point, we were talking about a nice horse who had limitations, possibly a Group 3 bully, but then he blew away Pyledriver in the Coronation Cup last June and we had to have a re-set. That was the case again on his belated next start when upsetting Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. at Sandown in May, so what can we expect of Shadwell's low-mileage veteran in a humdinger such as this?

Angus Gold is unsure. “It looks a fabulous race, let's hope it lives up to its billing. Now it's just a question of getting luck in running and whether he's good enough,” he said. “We've obviously won the King George before with Taghrooda and Nashwan and it's always been a huge race. It was the most important race of the summer when I was growing up and people of my generation still consider it a very important race, so it's lovely to have a horse in with a chance.”

Is Luxembourg The Forgotten Horse?

Prior to being jumped by Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Prince of Wales's S., Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) was one of this race's key favourites. While it is hard to forgive that effort given how intense this affair is going to be, the fact is that the G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup hero was one of four who ran far below their best alongside Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) and Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) for unexplained reasons. What is clear from all evidence is that he is made for this trip and while for all that he isn't Auguste Rodin he could be a Dylan Thomas or Duke Of Marmalade and that is usually enough.

“He'll love a mile and a half and will get the trip very well,” Aidan O'Brien said. “It's a race we were always looking at with him and we thought it was going to suit. He's solid, has had his two runs and he's ready.”

Ryan Moore has had to go elsewhere this time, but he is acutely aware of his threat. “Luxembourg is also a proper Group 1 horse and he has unfinished business at this trip after an inconclusive run in very deep ground in the Arc,” he said. “A win for him wouldn't surprise me at all.” Intriguingly, one of the best judges in any of the world's weighing rooms is also looking further afield for the most credible threat to Auguste Rodin. “I'd be most wary of Emily Upjohn, who I probably think has the best form coming into the race after her second to Paddington in the Eclipse,” he offered up on his Betfair blog.

Hamish Doubt

William Haggas on Friday warned that the multiple Group 3 winner Hamish is unlikely to line up if the ground worsens further. “Hamish will only run if it rains properly, otherwise he won't,” he said. “He's not going to run on good-to-soft, but there's rain around and who knows? If it came up proper soft, that's what he wants and in this company he needs it really soft or heavy, not only for him but also to maybe blunt some of the others' ability.”

York Boost For My Prospero?

While William Haggas readies to pull the Somerville Lodge pet Hamish from Ascot's showpiece, he has important business in his native Yorkshire as My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) bids to get back on track in the G2 York S. One of the four flops in Royal Ascot's G1 Prince of Wales's S. and possibly the most disappointing given his upside heading to that contest, Sunderland Holding's G2 Prix Eugene Adam winner who went so close in the G1 Champion S. has the ideal opportunity to rebuild here.

“It's one of those races, but he's very well and he should go well,” his trainer said. “I was a bit disappointed with his run at Ascot, he's definitely better than that I think, but Saturday will tell us because he needs to be shaping up well here.”

Heading the opposition to My Prospero is Shadwell's Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), another Owen Burrows special who took the G3 Strensall S. and G3 Darley S. at the end of his 3-year-old campaign. “It's his first start since October, but he was a progressive horse last year,” Angus Gold said. “The funny thing with him is he's by Dark Angel and out of an Oasis Dream (GB) mare and yet he stays a mile well and even a mile and a furlong. We're going up again in trip to a mile and a quarter, but I don't see that being a problem, it's more a question of how rusty he is. He had quite an injury obviously, but he's been sound and everything since he's been back in training and we didn't rush him and targeted this race. It's a trappy little contest and he'll need to be at his best, but it will just be nice to get him back on the track.”

A Study Of Symbology

On Ascot's card, the six-furlong G3 Princess Margaret S. sees Isa Salman Al Khalifa's exciting Symbology (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) bid to back up the impression of her debut win at York a fortnight ago. Trainer Clive Cox is happy to jump straight into pattern company with the half-sister to El Caballo (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}).

“This is a huge step forwards in comparison, but this is a filly we like very much,” he said. “We've been having a really pleasing run with the 2-year-olds and that was another pleasing success in a week where we'd won the July S. and had a double at Doncaster as well, so it gave us a good feel.”

Surprisingly, Highclere Thoroughbred Racing's G3 Albany S. third Soprano (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) is declared, despite having been third to Shuwari (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) in Thursday's Listed Star S.