Tag: King George

King George 2014 Preview

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A busy sporting weekend had its ups and downs for Betcirca followers. Tiggy Wiggy’s brilliant win at Newbury covered our expenses on the horses while Jim Furyk gave us a handsome each-way return at odds of 70-1 in the British Open.

The racing is poor this week before the big Ascot card on Saturday featuring the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. I take it that it is no longer sponsored by the Oppenheimer family as the “Diamond” seems to have been removed.

The favourite is Sir Michael Stoute’s Telescope after slaughtering his rivals at Royal Ascot by seven lengths. There is a real sense of deja-vu about this horse as he is trying to repeat Harbinger’s victory in 2010 in the same colours. No sooner had Highclere believed that they had the best horse in the world than he was injured and packaged off to stud. There have been some strange King George’s in recent years and that was certainly one of them with Derby and Arc winner Workforce running a total stinker.

Telescope has been built up and knocked down a couple of times already in his short career. He was always struggling to make the Derby line-up last year and Stoute eventually gave up the ghost and then defended his charge after a shock defeat at Haydock. You would have thought that a nine length defeat at the hands of Noble Mission would have put paid to the “wonder horse” treatment but we are back here again after Ascot.

We will never know what John Gosden thought of Sheikh Hamdan’s decision to pull Taghrooda out of the Irish Oaks on Sunday but I’m guessing that he was not best pleased. JG now has three runners here if the supplemented Eagle Top and Derby third Romsdal take their places. All of the evidence suggests that Taghrooda would have won at the Curragh and she has a big chance here. Eagle Top needs to come out and prove that it was no fluke at Ascot while Romsdal looked more of a Leger horse at Epsom.

A more likely threat to the favourite is Mukhadram after his well-deserved Eclipse victory. This will be his first start over a mile and a half but he has every chance of getting it. He settled well at Sandown and there could well be pacemakers in here which will give him a good lead. You would just worry about the last furlong or so. The bookies aren’t giving much away with the front two so it may be worth going each-way Mukhadram at 12-1.

Mukhadram @12-1 BetVictor

Each-way ¼ odds, 1,2,3

King George VI Chase Preview

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We finished in profit from Ascot last weekend thanks to Irving (11-4), Houblon Des Obeaux (4-1) and Flaxen Flare (16-1 each-way). Let’s hope that we can keep up the good work over Christmas when we all need a bit of a cash boost.

The King George has never been a particular favourite of mine because it is often won by the same horse at prohibitive odds. Kauto Star (5 times) and Desert Orchid (4 times) have been great in terms of popular racing winners but the race is generally not that competitive.

That is certainly not the case this year with a virtual re-run of the Betfair Chase at Haydock and connections of the first three home all being quite bullish about their prospects. It was Cue Card that came out on top at the Lancashire track, comfortably holding off Dynaste and Silviniaco Conti who were both making their seasonal debuts.

The second and third were the two horses that I earmarked at the start of the season for the Cheltenham Gold Cup and they certainly didn’t do their chances any harm at Haydock. Silviniaco Conti surprised by how well he travelled. In fact, he may have travelled a little too well and just ran out of puff in the closing stages.

Dynaste bowled along nicely and jumped like an old hand rather than a second season chaser. David Pipe must have been delighted by that and he appeared to love Kempton last season when bolting up in the Feltham. I just feel that Dynaste is more likely to be suited by this track than Silviniaco Conti, although I can see the Nicholls horse running a big race.

Cue Card improved over a stone from his first run to his second and Colin Tizzard has since revealed that his stable has been trying to shake off a virus all season. He is at pains to stage categorically that Cue Card is not affected and is in great shape for Boxing Day.

Al Ferof has always been regarded as a likely candidate for this race and he did nothing wrong when winning at Ascot. Admittedly he only had a single rival but that horse came out and ran well in a handicap at Cheltenham so it may have been a better run than it first appeared. It’s hard to see any of the others getting involved but it is set up for a cracking race between the trio from Haydock.

Dynaste at 100-30 Bet365, Coral

Ascot King George Day Preview

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King George day has arrived and a modest turn out of eight remain for the Group One event. I should have known better than to try to second guess the master of Ballydoyle. Of course, all racing fans are willing St Nicholas Abbey to pull through but it was disappointing that O’Brien promptly withdrew Ernest Hemingway without any word of explanation. Perhaps he was left in as a pacemaker? Who knows.

Most pundits are following the simple logic that Cirrus des Aigles has at least 10lbs in hand on official ratings and should therefore win. I suppose that is fair enough but he was well beaten in fifth on the only recent evidence we have and is now seven years old. The much maligned three-year-olds are represented by Trading Leather and Hillstar and 5-1 could look quite generous for the former if the favourite fails to fire.

The combination of Bolger and Manning team up with Chroussa in the first and this filly was just collared by Tapestry last time. I doubt that she is being sent over purely to keep Trading Leather company and looks worth an each-way bet at around 10-1. Ascot form is proving a bit in and out so there is no great value in Wind Fire at 2-1.

I am a big fan of Cape Peron but I do think he is being asked some difficult questions. He had a poor draw at Royal Ascot and Candy was reluctant to risk him on the firm ground. He is now lumbered with top weight and another big field to overcome so 4-1 or thereabout seems a bit miserly. Most of these have had plenty of racing but Yeager could be over-priced at 20-1 on Betfair. I notice that William Hill are only offering 10’s.

Earlier in the week we had a stab at the International with Prince Of Johanne and the gallant grey is at least declared to run. I must admit that I am a little worried that this seven furlongs will be on the sharp side. I am going to throw in a real outsider here in Ducal. He got knocked sideways coming out of the stalls at Haydock last time and then got hampered again when following Ashaadd through with his run. In the circumstances fourth was a fair effort and he is any price.

Chroussa 10-1 William Hill
Yeager 20-1 Betfair
Trading Leather 5-1 William Hill
Ducal 47-1 Betfair

King George 2013 Preview

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Last weekend we managed to pop a few winners in with Heeraat (3-1), Midnight Flower (100-30) and Waila (9-4). I was cursing myself for not tipping Peniaphobia in the Newbury Super Sprint after taking the trouble to find out that her name means a fear of poverty! I even watched a video of her previous race but was not overly impressed. Clearly Mr Fahey had left a bit to work on.

My dalliance into the golf betting market for the Open looked like paying off briefly on Sunday when Adam Scott found himself at the top of the leader board (tipped at 22-1). He really doesn’t like the closing holes does he? Fortunately he held on for a share of third and an each-way return. Ian Poulter was the only one of my pre-tournament picks to make a decent show and it certainly made it more interesting viewing.

Racing is gearing up to the King George on Saturday and Glorious Goodwood next week so plenty to look forward to. The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (whatever happened to the Diamonds?) Stakes is usually a clash of the generations and this year we have two three-year-olds pitched in against their elders.

The verdict on this year’s classic crop is that they are a moderate bunch. In fact, the best of them could even have won at Leicester last week (Telescope). Sir Michael has persuaded his owners to dig deep in their pockets to supplement Hillstar. He was beaten in a handicap at Newbury first time out, entirely due to failing to settle. He wasn’t that keen to settle at Royal Ascot either but Ryan Moore did a fine job of bringing him through late to catch Battle of Marengo.

To my mind, that form looks very weak and I doubt that even Ryan can get him home in front on Saturday. Irish Derby winner Trading Leather is more likely to be the standard bearer after seeing off the Epsom 1,2,3 at the Curragh. Having said that, only Galileo Rock ran his race so the form is debatable.

The best horse on official ratings is Cirrus des Aigles and he looks the logical answer here. The only question mark is his modest effort first time out. Trainer Corine Barande-Barbe is adamant that he just needed the run and that he will be a different proposition on Saturday. He will need to be if he is to overturn Novellist on Saint-Cloud form but he has won at Ascot before and finished second to Frankel. He would probably want a bit of rain by the weekend and there is still a suspicion that his best distance is a mile and a quarter.

I liked Ektihaam before his Ascot slip up but I am a little concerned as to how that may have affected his confidence. I wonder if Hanagan will allow him to bowl on again on Saturday. Mark Johnston’s Universal is as tough as old boots but I’ve opposed him so many times that there seems no point in giving him the kiss of death now.

St Nicholas Abbey is the main market rival to Cirrus des Aigles after another easy victory in the Coronation Cup at Epsom. The opposition was poor and his form at Ascot isn’t nearly so inspiring. He has been third here twice previously and he does seem a better horse going left handed.

Aidan O’Brien has pulled a few rabbits out of the hat this season with Magician (Irish Guineas) and Declaration of War (Eclipse) catching pundits off guard. I just wonder if he has another trick up his sleeve with Ernest Hemingway here at a massive price. I had virtually written him off until I saw him trounce some seasoned stayers in the Curragh Cup.

He was held up on the rail and then brought wide up the straight to mow down Royal Diamond and win going away by five lengths. It was an astonishing performance that almost certainly suggests he will be a Gold Cup horse next season. I never know what O’Brien’s running plans are but he is currently 150-1 on Betfair and 40-1 generally for Saturday’s race. If he runs he is capable of staying on into a place and you won’t get anything like that price.

Ernest Hemingway 150-1 Betfair, 40-1 Stan James