Juddmonte’s green, white and pink silks are among the most recognisable in racing and the Ralph Beckett-trained Westover will aim to provide them with a fourth success in six years in the prestigious King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Racing.
The remarkable Enable landed the race three times, in 2017, 2019 and 2020, to make her the most successful horse in the illustrious history of the midsummer showpiece.
Yet, as hard as it may seem to believe, Khalid Abdullah, founder of the operation, only saw his colours carried to victory by one other horse in the race in almost 40 years – the brilliant Dancing Brave in 1986.
That just goes to show the calibre of animal needed to win the contest and while only six go to post this year, all are Group One winners bar Emily Upjohn, who was beaten a hair’s breadth in the Oaks.
Westover won the Irish Derby last time out, Mishriff has claimed major races all over the globe, Torquator Tasso was a surprise victor in last year’s Arc and Aidan O’Brien’s Broome bounced back to form in the Hardwicke Stakes.
Completing the field is Pyledriver, a Coronation Cup winner who was beaten just a length in the Hong Kong Vase for the team of William Muir and Chris Grassick.
Juddmonte general manager Barry Mahon on Westover…
“I suppose there’s a mixture of nerves and excitement. It’s a top-class race and I think any one of the six is very capable of winning it.
“Mishriff is obviously a very high-class horse, as is Emily Upjohn, as is Broome and all the rest of them. They’re all elite animals and it’s going to be a marvellous race.
“I think Ralph is very happy with Westover and physically he’s done well, so hopefully the three races close enough together won’t count against him.
“You never really know taking on the older horses for the first time and then you have the filly (Emily Upjohn) thrown in getting the weight allowance. It’s going to make for a great race, to be fair.
“We are all looking forward to it. At the start of the year none of us could have envisaged Westover getting quite this far, so this is a surprise to all of us, but he’s kept on getting better physically and that’s where all of the improvement has come from.”
Colin Keane and Beckett pose with Westover after winning the Irish Derby
Trainer John Gosden on Emily Upjohn…
“In the end it proved impossible to get there (Irish Oaks at the Curragh) unless you wanted to have a long journey and get off the plane and go straight into the paddock, which wasn’t going to be too clever.
“We fortunately left her in the King George on the basis that you never know. It obviously wasn’t Plan A, but it’s turned out to be Plan B and being a three-year-old filly, she gets the benefit of a stone from the older horses and 3lb from Westover.”
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Gosden on Mishriff…
“The Saudi Cup didn’t go very well for Mishriff this year. The jocks said it was riding a lot more like an American track and he got a lot of that in his face and down his mouth and I’m afraid he didn’t like it very much.
“We freshened him up and he ran a superb race in the Eclipse and finished strongly. We are aware that a mile and a quarter is probably his perfect distance, as he proved in the Juddmonte International, but we’ve been very happy with his preparation and he comes here a relatively fresh horse.”
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Trainer Marcel Weiss on Torquator Tasso…
“The horse didn’t run as a two-year-old, but he’s been getting better all the time. The decision to keep him in training as a five-year-old was made just three days after the Arc last year because the horse hadn’t run too many times in his life and seemed to be getting better,” said trainer Marcel Weiss.
“He has a very strong character but if you understand him and go with him, not against him, then he’s a beautiful horse and has a lot of confidence in himself.
“There are big horses in the race and we have a lot of respect for the three-year-olds and Mishriff, but if you want to win the Arc you have to beat these horses and he is good enough.”
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Trainer William Muir on Pyledriver…
“It’s a good race and it wants to be. It’s one of the clashes of the season and ever since I’ve been involved in racing, it’s one you look forward to because you get the best of both generations,” said Muir.
“We’ve had no problems since Epsom, we’re in good shape. He’s had a little spin around Newbury, just a quiet spin – not a gallop or anything stupid – just to stretch his legs on a track and that went really well. We’re very happy.”
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Trainer Aidan O’Brien on Broome…
“We are happy with him. Everything has gone well since the last day and the plan was always to go back there.
“He had a lovely race the first day over a mile and a quarter and he stepped forward lovely from that and won well the last day.”