By Daithi Harvey
Khalid Abdullah's dual Classic winning homebred Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) may get the chance to emulate previous Oaks/King George winner Taghrooda (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) by lining up in Saturday's G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot. The filly is one of 16 horses left in the £1,000,000 race for which she is currently the market leader. “She cantered this morning and seems fine in herself, and as she flew to Ireland and back she did not take that much out of herself,” her trainer John Gosden said on Monday. “As the Yorkshire Oaks is that much later this year it makes sense to have a look at Ascot while she's in such good form and a final decision will be made on Wednesday when I discuss matters with the owner.” With the ground currently on the soft side Gosden has also left in Godolphin's Jack Hobbs (GB) (Halling) along with Maverick Wave (Elusive Quality) and he is confident Jack Hobbs can put his disappointing Royal Ascot effort behind him on Saturday. “He's run brilliantly twice in autumn ground there, but a mile and a half with cut in the ground is right up his street.”
Last year's winner Highland Reel (Ire) is on target along with his full-brother Idaho (Ire) and the pair could be joined by Ballydoyle stable-mates Johannes Vermeer (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and US Army Ranger (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). “The plan is to run both Highland Reel and Idaho,” Aidan O'Brien told The Racing Post. “They both came out of Ascot well and we're happy with them. They'll have bits to do over the next few days and, once all goes well, the two of them will run.”
Godolphin are well represented in their bid to maintain their fine Group 1 record this summer and apart from the Gosden pair they could rely on the Charlie Appleby trained duo of Hawk Bill (Kitten's Joy) and Frontiersman (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a recent 1-2 in the G2 Princess Of Wales's Arqana Racing Club S. at Newmarket while Saeed Bin Suroor has left in G3 Hampton Court S. winner Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Sir Michael Stoute's G1 Coral Eclipse winner Ulysses (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) adds further depth to the race along with the likes of My Dream Boat (Ire) (Lord Shanakill) and Permian (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). David Simcock has left in his progressive pair Algometer (GB) (Archipenko) and Desert Encounter (GB) (Halling) while international interest is added by the South American challenger Sixties Song (Arg) (Sixties Icon {GB}).
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