By Tom Frary
Aidan O'Brien will rely on the G1 Coronation Cup hero Jan Brueghel (Galileo) in Saturday's G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot after opting to withdraw the Derby and Irish Derby hero Lambourn (Australia) and the Pretty Polly winner Whirl (Wootton Bassett).
Just five remain, with Ballydoyle's pacemaker Continuous (Heart's Cry) there to set up the rematch between his stablemate and The Aga Khan Studs Epsom runner-up Calandagan (Gleneagles), who has since captured the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Juddmonte's G1 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes heroine Kalpana (Study Of Man) and Godolphin's multiple top-level-winning international heavyweight Rebel's Romance (Dubawi) complete the select field.
After Jessica Harrington withdrew Marcstown Farms' Green Impact (Wootton Bassett), the midsummer monument will have no three-year-old representation. He instead goes for Saturday's G2 York Stakes.
The winner of the King George gets a guaranteed start in the $5-million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf via the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In. Charlie Appleby is hoping that the veteran Rebel's Romance can get to the race he won in 2022 and 2024 at Keeneland and Del Mar.
“Rebel's Romance has come out of Royal Ascot well and we'll go into the King George as a decent player,” he said. “Needless to say, there are some young legs in there but a little bit like last year, he'll always run a solid race for you. You're going to meet some younger horses who have taken different routes to get there, but the one thing about him is he's not going to lie down easily and wherever he finishes, whoever beats him will know they've had a race.”
“Beyond Ascot, one of his targets will be the Grade 1 Canadian International at Woodbine,” Appleby added. “Hopefully that will give him a springboard into another crack at the Breeders' Cup.”
Calandagan's trainer Francis Henri-Graffard produced Goliath to cause a 25-1 upset 12 months ago and said of the four-year-old, “He has been a very competitive horse internationally at the top level. He won his Group 1 very convincingly last time and he's coming to Ascot in his best form. He doesn't mind any ground. He's very versatile and has already won on the course and distance.”
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