The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is one of a number of Group I races which takes place throughout the summer months. It is sponsored by QIPCO and is considered to be Britain’s most prestigious open-age flat race. It is contested over the 1 mile, three furlongs and 211 yards at the iconic Ascot racecourse in Berkshire. This race is one of the most anticipated contests on the sporting calendar.
The race, which has been in existence since 1946 was an amalgamation of two separate contests and it is often seen as a pre-cursor to the Arc which is held in France at the beginning of October. The winner will also receive an invite to the Breeders Cup Turf contest which is staged in the USA at the start of November.
As of 2018, the prize pot totalled £750,000 and as a result, it has become Britain’s second richest horse race behind the Derby.
Frankie Dettori has five wins in the race but he is still two short of Lester Piggot’s total. Dettori’s last victory in the race came in 2017 on board Enable. Sir Michael Stoute is the leading trainer with six wins in this much-anticipated event.
Popular winners of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes include Opera House, Kings Theatre, Harbinger and Dane Dream.
Prediction Report
A month prior to the contest, 2017 winner Enable was the early pacesetter and had the highest implied probability in the race. The John Gosden-trainer middle-distance runner was victorious by four and a half lengths after going off as the 5/4 favourite. Enable was rumoured to be returning to the track to defend his crown and understandably, he was chalked up as the favourite with the major bookmakers at the end of June.
Cracksman was also prominent in the betting and was given an implied probability of 20% for the 2018 renewal. Also trained by John Gosden, Cracksman has a terrific record at Ascot and had previously been successful in the QIPCO Champion Stakes in October 2017. He was also seen winning the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York and was one of the standout flat performers going into 2018. It came as little surprise to see Cracksman priced up prominently in the better for this race.
Further down the betting, Saxon Warrior was given just a 3.33% implied probability in the contest despite some excellent recent form.
2018 Result
Poets Word was the eventual winner of the 2018 King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes with the horse giving Sir Michael Stoute adding another winner to his impressive total in the contest. It was a typically tight finish with Crystal Ocean finishing just a neck behind the winner. The stablemates were involved in a thrilling finale and made it a 2018 to remember for the yard.
John Gosden wasn’t able to secure yet another title in the race and he had to settle for third place with Coronet finishing nine lengths behind the winner. Unfortunately, Cracksman was declared a non-runner just hours before the contest.
