Workforce, Rewilding Headline King George
The Group 1 King George VI and Queen
Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, midsummer highlight of the British racing season, has
attracted a select field of five for the first Breeders' Cup Challenge race
held in the United Kingdom
this year.
The race will be shown live at Saratoga Race Course, where fans can watch and wager on all the action from Ascot, Newmarket and York beginning at 8:45 a.m. at the GBI Racing area at “The Post” restaurant area near the Saratoga Paddock.
Post time for the King George, the sixth race at Ascot, is 11:30 a.m.
Arc de Triomphe winner Workforce has dominated the headlines ahead of the King George, which offers the winner an automatic fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf in November, but Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni is confident that Frankie Dettori's considerable riding talents will come to the fore again as he seeks his fifth King George win aboard Rewilding.
Third behind Workforce in last year's Investec Derby at Epsom Downs, Rewilding has made giant strides since, running away with the Dubai Sheema Classic in Dubai and making a winning return to Europe at Royal Ascot, where he wore down favored So You Think in the Prince of Wales’s.
“You need a good jockey to give you confidence and we have the best. I don’t have to say anything about Frankie, everybody knows everything about him,” said Al Zarooni, who has already enjoyed dual Classic success this season with last weekend's Irish Oaks heroine Blue Bunting. “Look at the Irish Oaks last week, any other jockey on her wouldn't have won - Frankie is the one. He's a strong jockey, he's clever, he reads the race and he has all the experience.
“Rewilding has been very well since Royal Ascot,” he added. “The horse has changed since he was a 3-year-old. He used to take a long time to recover, this time he has recovered very well. I think he's had enough time since Ascot. I'm really very confident, fast ground would be better for him, but I'm going there with big hopes.”
The King George also drew St Nicholas Abbey, Nathaniel, and 2010 Arlington Million winner Debussy.
The Best of British Racing is simulcast Wednesday through Saturday mornings throughout the Saratoga meet, with first race post time generally 9 a.m. on weekdays.