This race was first held in 1951 and was won by Supreme Court. The 1975 renewal featured Grundy and Bustino. These two top-class thoroughbreds fought out such a titanic finish that the race is regarded by many as one of the best in the history of the sport.
Bet on King George Vi & Queen Elizabeth Stakes
The race is run over a distance of one and a half miles at Ascot in late July. Three year-olds carry eight stones and nine pounds, while older horses are allotted nine stones and seven pounds. Fillies and mares receive a three pound allowance, while four pounds is deducted from any four year-old runner who ventures here from the southern hemisphere.
Some incredibly famous horses have won this contest over the years, including Galileo, Montjeu, King’s Theatre, Opera House, Generous, Nashwan and Reference Point. Brigadier Gerard is perhaps the most well know champion of all.
Here are some trends and statistics based on the last ten runnings of the race. Ten runners go to post this year in a hotly contested renewal.
Age (wins-placed-runners)
3-y-o: 2-4-13
4-y-o: 8-6-43
5-y-o: 0-4-11
6-y-o+: 0-1-8
Eight of the last ten winners were aged four which is good news for backers of: Idaho, Ulysses and Sixties Song.
Being five or six-years-old could prove to be a negative for Desert Encounter, Highland Reel, Jack Hobbs, Maverick Wave and My Dream Boat.
Since the year 2000 there have been just three three-year old winners which is a trend Enable and Benbatl will be trying to buck.
Form
Nine of the last ten winners finished in the first three places last time out. That is a bad sign for Jack Hobbs, Maverick Wave and My Dream Boat.
Ten out of ten winners had run two to four races that season.
Seven out of ten winners had won at least one race that season.
Trainers
Michael Stoute (2-6-15) has trained the winner three times since the turn of the millennium.
John Gosden (2-3-12) has had two winners to his name in recent times.
Aidan O’Brien (3-2-15) also has a formidable record in this race having won most recently with Highland Reel in 2016.
Starting Price
Nothing over 9/1 has won for the last ten years. It is highly probable this trend will continue on Saturday.
Runner-by-runner guide
Desert Encounter
Trainer David Simcock believes that if the conditions come up as being testing on Saturday his five-year-old gelding may have a chance of causing an upset in the race.
Desert Encounter produced a career-best performance to finish third in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown at the start of July.
Highland Reel
Defending champion Highland Reel is in line to become only the third horse to win back-to-back King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Aidan O'Brien's five-year-old has won six times at the highest level overall and goes to post on the back of a determined success in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting last month.
Highland Reel relishes quick ground so connections will be anxious that the recent rain has not changed the going conditions considerably.
Idaho
Idaho bounced right back to his best when scoring in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot last time out.
Idaho, who is a full brother to Highland Reel, has not won a Group One race yet while Highland Reel has won six and has raced in several countries and on three different continents. His brother will be a hard act to follow but apparently he is getting onto his heels at home.
Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs trailed home a disappointing eighth behind Highland Reel in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last month but his trainer John Gosden has put that whole episode down to the heat and the lightening fast track.
The runaway Irish Derby winner of 2015 should certainly run much better on Saturday with conditions back in his favour.
Maverick Wave
Maverick Wave is expected to employ pace-making duties again in this race and is duly priced up at 100/1 to cause any sort of shock result.
My Dream Boat
Clive Cox’s five-year-old is one of six Group One winners in the line-up – his finest hour being when winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last season, beating the subsequent Arc winner Found into second place.
He ran his best race of this season when finishing fourth behind Zarak in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on his latest start which was within two lengths of the winner.
Ulysses
Sir Michael Stoute's charge came out on top in the Coral Eclipse Stakes at the start of the month, seeing off the excellent three-year-old Barney Roy, the winner of the St James's Palace Stakes, by a nose.
Stoute, who has won five King Georges, is confident the step up in trip will pose no problems for his exciting four-year-old who will be partnered again by Jim Crowley.
Sixties Song
Four-year-old Sixties Song, who arrived in Newmarket last Sunday, will break new ground in this Group One by becoming the first South American-trained runner to compete in Britain.
Connections of the Argentinean horse believe that the colt should not be underestimated as he is already established as the best middle-distance horse in South America.
Benbatl
Saeed bin Suroor's Benbatl, who was fifth in the Derby before going on to win the Hampton Court Stakes could easily outrun his large odds.
Benbatl appears to be taking a chance in this race rather than being entered up at York for the Juddmonte International next month.
Enable
John Gosden's filly was an impressive winner of the Epsom Oaks and then followed up by winning the Irish equivalent at the Curragh a fortnight ago.
Enable was only given the green light on Wednesday morning after consultation between John Gosden and owner Khalid Abdullah.
Although she could be lining up against the strongest King George field for many years it is possible she could be sent off as the odds-on favourite on Saturday.
Summary
Understandably Enable is at the head of the market as she gets a big weight allowance for being a filly. Frankie Dettori has been going all out with his diet this week to meet 8st 7lb which is his bare minimum and there is every chance he will be rewarded for his stellar efforts and commitment once again.
News of the drying ground at Ascot from the Clerk of the Course must have been music to the ears of Aidan O’Brien as the weekend approaches. O’Brien’s Highland Reel will overtake Cirrus Des Aigles as the record-earning horse in Europe if he wins this top class midsummer mile-and-a-half championship event.
888sport predicts 1. Highland Reel 2. Enable
