England: Auguste Rodin leads deep field in King George Stakes
Auguste Rodin, winner of the Epsom Derby (G1), heads an all-star cast Saturday in the July 29 for the Group 1, $1.6 million King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, England.
The winner will gain a guaranteed start in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.
Great Britain’s signature open-age flat race run over 1 1/2 miles of turf has drawn a stellar lineup of 11 horses, seven of whom are Group 1 or Grade 1 winners. The course condition at Ascot changed Thursday to soft, good to soft in places, after two-thirds of an inch of rain.
Not only does 3-year-old Auguste Rodin meet older horses for the first time for owners Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier and Westerberg, but his opponents include the last three winners of the Coronation Cup (G1). They include the filly Emily Upjohn, Hukum and Pyledriver (GB), who won last year’s King George.
Luxembourg won the Irish Champion (G1) last year for the same owners who have Auguste Rodin. Juddmonte’s Westover captured the 2022 Irish Derby (G1) and landed the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1) in his latest start.
The other sophomore in the field, Kentucky-bred King of Steel, won the King Edward VII (G2) over Saturday’s course and distance at Royal Ascot after finishing second by a half-length to Auguste Rodin in the Epsom Derby.
Auguste Rodin, who added the July 2 Irish Derby (G1) to his classic haul, is one of the four horses entered by trainer Aidan O’Brien. Stable jockey Ryan Moore has the mount on the colt who was the 10-3 favorite Friday with U.K. bookmakers. Point Lonsdale and Bolshoi Ballet complete the quartet for the same ownership group as Auguste Rodin and Luxembourg.
“Auguste Rodin is from the last crop of Deep Impact and has always been a special horse,” O’Brien said. “The minute he won the Derby, the plan was always to come back to Ireland for the Irish Derby and then going on to the King George if everything was OK.”
O’Brien has won the King George four times, clinching his first success with Galileo, who also won the Epsom Derby and Irish Derby in 2001.
Only three sophomore colts have won the Ascot middle-distance prize since with older horses claiming 16 editions this century.
King of Steel almost caused a huge upset at Epsom in June at odds of 66-1 in his 2023 debut and his first start for trainer Roger Varian.
“It was great that he could back up his performance in the Derby at Ascot,” Varian said. “There was a lot of pressure on the horse going into Royal Ascot. He confirmed what a good horse he is and what a good horse he can be for us. ... We are looking forward to the King George. There is no reason to think he won’t handle soft ground.”
Hukum returns to his favored distance after delivering a surprise defeat on 2022 Epsom Derby winner Desert Crown in the Brigadier Gerard (G2) in May after an injury layoff. Trainer Owen Burrows said, “I don’t think he has a lot to prove. We were all caught a little bit by surprise as to how he managed to beat Desert Crown, but he is right up there.”
Emily Upjohn cut back in distance to take on another O’Brien star, Paddington (GB), over 1 1/4 miles in the Eclipse (G1) at Sandown three weeks ago and finished a half-length behind the 3-year-old. Frankie Dettori, who missed that race because he was serving a ban, returns to the irons needing one more win to overtake the legendary Lester Piggott as the King George’s most successful jockey. They are level with seven wins each.
Defending champion Pyledriver has had only one start since last year’s Ascot success, winning the Hardwicke (G2) at Royal Ascot in June.
“He has come on for his race, and I couldn’t be happier with him,” said William Muir, the 6-year-old’s co-trainer with Chris Grassick.
