Staged at Ascot racecourse, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is run over a distance of 1m4f and is generally regarded as Britain’s most prestigious all-aged flat horse race.
With over £600,000 up for grabs for the winner the it goes without saying the race always attracts horses from the best yards around the country with Sir Michael Stoute and Saeed Bin Suroor, who have won the King George six and five times, are the trainers with the best recent record in the contest, while the powerful Aidan O’Brien yard have won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes four times. Don’t forget the John Gosden yard either – they’ve won the race 3 times in the last 6 years and for the latest odd check out the powerplay website.
12 months ago, in 2020 we saw the popular mare – Enable – win the race for a third time after winning the race in 2019 and 2017 too.
Here at RACING AHEAD, we take a look back at the recent winners of the race and gives you the key trends to look out for ahead of the 2021 renewal – this year run on Saturday 24th July.
Recent King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes Winners
2020 – Enable (4/9 fav)
2019 – Enable (8/15 fav)
2018 – Poet’s Word (7/4)
2017 – Enable (5/4 fav)
2016 – Highland Reel (13/8 fav)
2015 – Postponed (6/1)
2014 – Taghrooda (7/2)
2013 – Novellist (13/2)
2012 – Danedream (9/1)
2011 – Nathaniel (11/2)
2010 – Harbinger (4/1)
2009 – Conduit (13/8 fav)
2008 – Duke of Marmalade (4/6 fav)
2007 – Dylan Thomas (5/4 fav)
2006 – Hurricane Run (5/6 fav)
2005 – Azamour (5/2 fav)
2004 – Doyen (11/10 fav)
2003 – Alamshar (13/2)
2002 – Golan (11/2)
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes Trends
19/19 – Previous Group 1 or 2 winners
17/19 – Had won over 1m4f before
16/19 – Aged 3 or 4 years-old
16/19 – Had 2 or more runs already that season
16/19 – Returned 6/1 or shorter in the betting
16/19 – Placed last time out
15/19 – Previous Group 1 winner
12/19 – aged 4 years-old
12/19 – Had run Ascot before
11/19 – Won their previous race
10/19 – Favourites that won
8/19 – Ran at Royal Ascot last time out
8/19 – Won at Ascot before
5/19 – Trained by John Gosden
4/19 – Trained by Sir Michael Stoute
3/19 – Trained by Aidan O’Brien
Frankie Dettori has ridden the winner in 1995, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2017, 2019 and 2020
2 of the last 7 winners were that season’s Epsom Oaks winner
Galileo (2001) was the last horse to do the Derby/King George double
Trainer John Gosden won the race in 2011, 2014, 2017, 2019 & 2020
Trainer Sir Michael Stoute won the race in 1981, 1983, 2002, 2009, 2010 & 2018
Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor won the race in 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 & 2004
Trainer Aidan O’Brien won the race in 2001, 2007, 2008 & 2016
The average winning SP in the last 19 runnings is 10/3
RACING AHEAD VERDICT: A bit of a shame we’ve only got the six runners for this prestigious Group One, but it’s still a decent renewal. If the rain comes, then the David Menuisier-trained WONDERFUL TONIGHT (e/w) will have a much better chance and she could not have been more impressive when winning the G2 Hardwicke Stakes here last month – beating another runner, Broome. That runner-up has also since franked the form by winning a G1 in France, so the form looks solid. She’ll certainly need some of the wet stuff though, but the forecast is saying she might just get it! However, the race does revolve, around the Epsom Derby winner – Adayar – and the classy filly LOVE. The former was a slightly shock winner of the Derby in June but being a 3 year-old gets a handy 8lbs off Love and is only officially rated a pound lower than her. He clearly loved being steeped up in trip last time and handles soft ground should the rain come. It’s hard to knock his chance, but, for me, I’d just like to see him back up that Derby win first as in recent years we’ve had some strange winners of that Epsom Classic that haven’t quite fulfilled their claims. Therefore, I’d rather stick with LOVE, who has now won her last four races, including last time out in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes here. That came over 1m2f, but we know she stays this 1m4f trip well having bolted up in the Epsom and Yorkshire Oaks last season. She’s unraced on really soft ground, but breeding suggests she’ll be fine on it and even though it won’t be easy having to give 8lbs away to this season’s Derby winner, she’s a classy filly that I think is up to the task. We’ve also got the globe-trotting Mishriff and the Frankie-ridden Lone Eagle in the race. Both are certainly no back numbers either. Mishriff was last seen running third in the Coral-Eclipse, but my only niggle is that he’s got to give 3lbs away to Love and his only previous run here at Ascot wasn’t a great one. Lone Eagle was a close second in the Irish Derby under Dettori and has form on soft ground too. He gets weight from all the others barring Adayar too and having won four of his 7 starts is a fast-improving middle-distance colt that can’t be totally ruled out either.
