Described as “slightly freakish” by trainer John Gosden prior to his Derby run, Lady Bamford's homebred Wings of Desire (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) has some family honour to uphold and vengeance to carry out in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot on Saturday. Like his full-brother Eagle Top (GB) in 2014, he comes here on the back of a handful of outings, having not raced at two and with a Group 2 win under his belt after mastering Deauville (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in York's G2 Dante S. over an extended 10-furlong trip May 12. His sibling was fourth on that occasion, but was just a nose away from glory on a second attempt 12 months ago, and connections are hoping it will be third-time lucky with Wings of Desire, who was a staying-on fourth in Epsom's blue riband on the first Saturday in June. Gosden, who has saddled the 3-year-olds Nathaniel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Taghrooda (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) to beat the older horses on highly favourable weight-for-age terms since 2011, will happy that the ground will ride livelier than on that occasion.
“He's in good form, but we don't know how to compare the 3-year-olds with the older horses yet,” said jockey Frankie Dettori. “He's the only 3-year-old in the field and he's getting 12 pounds, which is a lot of weight, but he's got to show his stuff. I always felt we were playing catch-up heading to the Derby because he was a late maturer and we squeezed in two maidens and the Dante in a short space of time. I think the Derby came a month too soon, mentally, and the track got him in a muddle a little bit. He didn't finish the race out as well as I would have hoped, but I still believe a mile-and-a-half is within his reach, so hopefully he'll run a good race.”
The Queen's Dartmouth (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) heads the older brigade, with his head defeat of Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in Royal Ascot's G2 Hardwicke S. over this course and distance June 18 representing a clear career-best and the ideal lead-up to this prize. Sir Michael Stoute is looking for a record sixth win here, with all bar one of his prior winners being older horses and the latest and most impressive being Harbinger (GB) (Dansili {GB}). He also came here having won the Hardwicke, but it is unlikely that Dartmouth will be able to get anywhere near the performance of his predecessor, who dealt a scarcely believable 11-length blow to the Irish Derby hero Cape Blanco (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2010. What the Royal runner does possess is unquantifiable determination and courage, and this is not the strongest King George on paper now that Postponed (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) has been ruled out.
“He has a really good chance and I'm confident,” said rider Olivier Peslier. “I think it might be a tactical race as there are not too many runners and we hope for a good pace. He has good experience, I think he can improve as he has been coming up all the time and is trained by a champion in Sir Michael Stoute. It is very difficult to say who will win. There are seven runners and all seven have a chance of winning.”
Highland Reel heads the Aidan O'Brien contingent and he has the good-to-firm ground he relished when winning the GI Secretariat S. at Arlington in August. The Hong Kong Vase hero has the class to win this race and his Hardwicke effort showed he is nearing a peak again, but connections have muddied the waters by opting to also run Sir Isaac Newton (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). The latter is on the upgrade, having won the 10-furlong Listed Wolferton H. at Royal Ascot June 18 and The Curragh's G3 International S. over that trip eight days later, and certainly has the raw material to feature.
“Highland Reel's in good form and we've been happy with him since [Royal] Ascot,” revealed O'Brien. “He ran very well there and the plan going to the Hardwicke was with an eye on going back for the King George.”
French interest comes via The Niarchos Family's Erupt (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who returned to the form of his 2015 G1 Grand Prix de Paris success last time when a late-closing second in the July 3 G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Held up there, he got himself too far out of contention before finding his top stride late on, and it may be that he faces a similar scenario up Ascot's relatively short straight.
“He takes a little time to get fit and, with the very wet spring, Francis [Graffard] has struggled a bit with him,” admitted the owner's racing manager Alan Cooper. “With the warmer weather now, the good ground has come and the horse is beginning to thrive. He is a Group 1 winner over a mile-and-a-half at Longchamp, although it will be a step up for him here.”
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