3 minute read
Racing and Sports preview the 2021 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes from Ascot.
'England's Arc', the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, is typically a case in quality over quantity. There have been three double-figure fields this century and in 2021 we have a clash in six. But it is certainly a select six with five of them Group One winners bringing formlines from across the globe.
The race is something to behold before even considering the betting, but then it only gets sweeter with the Racing and Sports pricing model and early markets seeing things fairly differently.
One thing that the Model and the market can agree upon is the market leader, Love. She wasn't at her absolute best winning the Prince Of Wales at the course last time but she was off a long break there and did the job well enough to think that she can quickly return to her best now. She is strongly connected and has a bank of powerful ratings so there is little disputing her place at the pointy end of betting.
Who should be next is the point of discussion. British punters and pundits sure do love their 'classic' form and as a dominant winner at Epsom Adayar is thrown up as a very credible danger to Love in the betting.
Like Love he is well connected with the high-striking Appleby and Buick combination behind the wheel, but smashing Mojo Star to bits is a bit different to standing toe-to-toe with these.
The Derby at Epsom is a great race but its recent winners have been lagging behind those of its French equivelent in recent years and Mishriff, who won well at Chantilly in 2020, has achieved far more than not just Adayar but any Epsom winner since his same stable sent around Golden Horn in 2015.
The early betting surely undersells what he has done. Taking down a proper US dirt monster on his own surface before turning around the beat Chrono Genesis, the winner of the last three Grand Prix in Japan, is an achievement reserved for a top liner. It is certainly a greater achievement then ripping down a maiden in Mojo Star...
He travelled well before blowing out late in the Eclipse but he was entitled to be rusty there and can come on leaps and bounds in the race that he was surely targetted towards for a stable with a great record here (and everywhere).
By the same thinking, Lone Eagle seems way too short for one that was given a great ride in Ireland last time. It took a good one to rip the Irish Derby from his hands, when he looked all over a winner, but this is surely no easier and
Wonderful Tonight would have loved rain to hit Ascot but she is twice a G1 winner and was even better winning the Hardwicke last time which has worked out really well, Broome who among the winners to come out from behind her as he went on to win the Grand Prix at Saint Cloud.
It could be argued that both deserve to be shorter in the betting than Lone Eagle. And the Racing and Sports pricing model would take that side of the argument.
Recommended Bets: Back Mishriff in the King George.
