Mike Cattermole: Three and easy? King George thoughts as Enable goes for three
Mike Cattermole says the King George is diminished by the lack of Classic representation, with three Ballydoyle challengers in the way of Enable's hat-trick bid.
King George diminished by no three-year-olds
Enable stands on the brink of history as she bids to become the first to win three King Georges at Ascot on Saturday.
And those that were worried about a posse of Aidan O’Brien-trained runners trying to crowd her out can rest a little easier with only three from the original Ballydoyle six declared to make up the smallest field since Nathaniel beat four rivals in 2011.
What a shame that there are no three-year-olds to be seen, even if the closer proximity to the Derby and Oaks this time was going to make that tricky.
Recently, I wrote in this column about the scenario facing Team Ballydoyle/Coolmore in developing a programme to turn the runaway Derby winner Serpentine into a commercially viable proposition as a stallion. Indeed, his next appearance has yet to be confirmed.
Given that the Derby was Serpentine’s third run in as many weeks, perhaps the King George, just another three weeks on, didn’t fit in. It would have been great to see him here.
What is surprising, however, is that the opportunity to run both or either of the Irish Derby 1-2 of Santiago and Tiger Moth was not taken up by Ballydoyle, given that the Curragh Classic took place a week before Epsom.
Santiago instead heads for a clash with Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup.
However, with the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on Sunday being opened up to three-year-olds this year, Tiger Moth is entered there alongside classmates Armory, Royal Dornoch and Vatican City.
The other three that weren’t declared for Ascot – Magical, Magic Wand and Sir Dragonet – are all in there, too.
So, no three-year-olds from Ballydoyle at Ascot but thank goodness for the abundance of riches in their team of older horses. It means a Derby winner, Irish Derby winner and Juddmonte winner will test Enable.
That has to be a positive, not a negative as some are alluding.
We all know that the Galileo influence at the County Tipperary stable is massive and one of the main reasons for the long held dominance at middle distances. For races like the King George, where would we be without them?
In other stables across Europe, King George contenders are hard to find. Godolphin’s superstar Ghaiyyath, currently rated the world’s best racehorse, is heading to the Juddmonte International at York and that may also be a target for the likes of Lord North and Addeybb.
Even the French seem light on middle distance stars with the only glaring omission from the King George being last year’s Arc third Sottsass, winner of the rescheduled Prix Ganay at Chantilly last month.
So, with this year’s Eclipse Stakes framed to exclude the Classic generation and no representation at Ascot, it’s a shame that the older generations will not be tested against them at middle distances for the foreseeable future. Perhaps not until York next month.
The only cross-generation challenge we can look forward to imminently is a marvellous renewal of the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood next week.
Paul Hanagan on the way back
How things change.
Six years ago, Paul Hanagan was Sheikh Hamdan’s number one jockey and teamed up with another special John Gosden filly in Taghrooda to win the King George.
The former champion jockey is undergoing his longest period without riding a horse as he is still recovering from a horrible fall at Newcastle in February when he sustained a double fracture of his T6 vertebra.
His recovery has been a slow and painful one and not helped by the fact that Jack Berry House in Malton, where he would have been expected to carry out most of his rehabilitation, was shut due to Covid-19.
Hanagan hopes to be back before the end of the season and there can’t be anybody out there who does not wish this most likeable man well.
Harbinger was a brilliant King George winner
There have been some legendary King George winners but the most spectacular I have seen was Harbinger.
Ten years ago, he streaked home under Olivier Peslier to win the Ascot showpiece by a record 11 lengths. Sadly, due to injury, he was unable to race again and denied the chance to confirm the visual impression that day. There has been a debate ever since about just how good he was.
I was a believer though, as I was about Pinatubo’s brilliance as a two-year-old.
Julian Muscat, a writer who I have long respected, wrote in the Racing Post last week that the Godolphin colt had been overrated at two after his nine-length romp in the National Stakes, he wrote on “bottomless ground”. It was officially good.
Interestingly, both Harbinger and Pinatubo had been posting improving performances all their way up to those high points. Harbinger had won the John Porter, the Ormonde and the Hardwicke Stakes, building every time, prior to the King George blitz.
Just like Pinatubo had done as he racked up brilliant wins in the Chesham and Vintage Stakes to that peak in Ireland. So, he dipped a touch in the Dewhurst and hasn’t scaled that Curragh height since.
But he is still a very good horse, make no mistake, and I think can show even more if ridden as quietly as possible.
Julian also mentioned Celtic Swing, the 12-length winner of the Racing Post Trophy and hinted that he too was flattered in the ground at Doncaster - but it was only good to soft.
Like the two above, Celtic Swing had also hinted before Doncaster that another huge run was imminent as he had beaten Singspiel by eight lengths (on quick ground) at Ascot the time before.
Horses are not machines but I don’t think there is any doubt for me that Celtic Swing and Pinatubo are the best two-year-olds I have seen – and Harbinger was indeed a King George monster.
Goodwood and BHA should be putting owners first
The frustrations being felt by many owners right now at the restrictive access to see their horses run is palpable.
It must be even more galling to hear that up to 5,000 annual Goodwood members will be welcomed at the course on the final day of the big meeting there next week. The August 1 fixture on Saturday is part of the government’s pilot scheme to get the crowds back into big sporting occasions.
Yet the owners are still restricted to two per horse and only allowed to enter the racecourse 45 minutes before the race and leave within an hour afterwards.
Apparently the Goodwood members have been snapping up the opportunity but if the numbers fall short, they have been told they are welcome to bring a guest.
I’m all for racing getting back to normal as soon as possible but owners should be given priority, don’t you think?