There may only be three runners for Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes (15:35) but it still has the potential to be a strong renewal.
The field for the feature on the opening day of the King George meeting has a somewhat lopsided look, with two of the entries belonging to Aidan O’Brien but the odd one out is, of course, John Gosden’s brilliant Enable (4/9 Fav).
Eyebrows were raised when she was beaten by Ghaiyyath on her reappearance in the Eclipse at Sandown but connections were happy with her display.
Gosden was at the centre of the praise and having seen her back home at his Clarehaven base, is confident she and Frankie Dettori can score on Saturday.
“I did not expect her to win the Eclipse,” he said earlier this week. “She’s a six-year-old racemare and not that wild, exuberant three-year-old race filly who could just do anything. She did well to finish second.
“I am looking forward to running her because she is up for it now. She behaved beautifully at Sandown when she was still not in the zone. I feel she is back in it.”
A third Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe success on October 4 is the primary goal for Enable’s season (5/1) but a win on Saturday would be a boost.
Nothing can be taken for granted though with O’Brien’s talented trio all having something to prove.
Last year’s Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck was expected to challenge Enable but was declared a non-runner on the eve of the race.
Ryan Moore was due to ride Anthony Van Dyck but switched to Japan (5/2), the pair having been back in third for that recent running of the Eclipse and is without a win in three starts since claiming the Juddmonte International Stakes at York last August.
Meanwhile, the second of O’Brien’s duo of four-year-olds is Sovereign (12/1) who claimed Irish Derby glory last year.
He looked short in finishing third in last month’s Vintage Crop Stakes and William Buick will hope he can rediscover his form from that Curragh win under Padraig Beggy.
Even so, such a field could lead to a tactical battle but Gosden is adamant that will not be the case.
“I would have thought that we’re above all that now, I really would,” he added. “If I’m concerned about that going into a race, that’s not a good thing.
“Those horses are ridden by gentlemen who ride for me a lot too (Ryan Moore, William Buick and Oisin Murphy), so I don’t see anything too sinister ahead.”
