King George lowdown: Hukum pips Westover in Ascot thriller

The older horses prevailed as the six-year-old Hukum produced a career-best to deny Group One winner Westover in a thrilling conclusion to one of the most anticipated renewals of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes for many years in a memorable highlight at Ascot.

Hukum – who suffered a serious injury after Coronation Cup glory last season and was not certain to return to the track – built on his brilliant return in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes by reeling in Westover on the run to the line in what was a test at the trip with strong early fractions.

King Of Steel fared best of the three-year-olds, just fading a little towards the line but running with real credit for third, while Luxembourg fared best of the Ballydoyle battalion in fourth. Last year’s winner Pyledriver took fifth spot as Auguste Rodin, the dual Derby winner, was pulled up turning into the straight and dismounted on the track.

Speaking to ITV Racing, winning rider Jim Crowley said: “Unbelievable.

“I’ve always believed in him, even last year I said to [trainer] Owen [Burrows] that this could be a King George or Arc horse.”

A brother to the brilliant Baaeed, Crowley added on his big-race winner: “He’s out of the shadow of his brother now! It’s something special and a great training performance by Owen.”

On how the race unravelled, the jockey continued: “It went smoothly, Westover got first run on me a little bit but that gave me something to aim at. He was so tough – I never felt like I was going to come off second-best.”

Burrows said that this would have to rank as the best day of his training career, not long after Alflaila made a triumphant return in Group Two company at York.

“I’ll be honest, I’m pretty speechless,” said the trainer.

“It is a big team effort – I have a great team behind me. My head lad rides him every day, John Lake.

“To be honest, we felt he has never been better, this season for whatever reason, he’s shown a lot more speed. But what a tough horse – and he had to be, because the second didn’t lay down, did he? He made us fight all the way.

“What a race. It lived up to its spectacle. I’m a bit hoarse from shouting.

“What can you say about him – he’s an absolute star. I can’t put into words what it means. I’m in my second season as a public trainer and we have a great team. The guys back at Shadwell rehabbed him after his injury at Epsom – huge credit to them.

“It was the type of injury that wouldn’t retire a horse, but he’d just won a Group One and he was five, so you think – hats off to Sheikha Hissa for giving him a chance.”

He added: “This horse has been a huge part of my career. He is my first Royal Ascot winner, first Group One winner and he won in Dubai when we first went out after the sad passing of Sheikh Hamdan, so to come back and so what he’s done is just amazing.”

An emotional Angus Gold, racing manager for owners Shadwell, told Sky Sports Racing: “Amazing, a huge, fantastic result.

“What a horse he is to come back from a serious injury, they did brilliantly at the stud to get him back, and Owen has been very patient with him.

“It means a great deal to Sheikha Hissa, with the horse bred by her father (Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum).”

Connections of Westover were left “devasted but delighted” following his narrow defeat in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot.

Last year’s Irish Derby hero disappointed as a hot favourite for Ascot’s midsummer showpiece 12 months ago, but was this time carried out on his shield.

Turning out just three weeks after doubling his Group One tally in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the Ralph Beckett-trained four-year-old was a 7-1 shot in the hands of Rob Hornby and moved to the lead early in the home straight.

Westover and Hukum engaged in a titanic duel with two furlongs to run and while the latter secured top honours by a head, the runner-up lost little in defeat.

“What a horse, what a horse race. We’re devasted but delighted,” said Barry Mahon, racing manager for Westover’s owner-breeders Juddmonte.

“He’s run a career-best in what was being touted beforehand as the middle-distance race of the year and he went down gallantly. I felt he was even battling back again at the finish.

“He put it all on the line and he’s doing what we thought he’d do this year. Last year he was big and immature and he’s mentally and physically grown up.

“To break the track record the last day in Saint-Cloud was a big performance and to back it up with a run like that three weeks later is unbelievable.

“We haven’t really thought about what’s next. We’ll see how he comes out of it and make a plan in a couple of weeks’ time.”

Hornby similarly had mixed emotions, saying: “This race deserves a spectacle like that and to have an ovation for this horse, coming second like we did, was special.

“It is tough to take, but I’m really proud of him. It is always tough when you are just denied like that and it was such a heroic battle.

“He stays very well. He rolled around twice and I pulled my stick through and corrected him. When he got into a head to head, he was tough all the way to the line and he was just edged out unfortunately.”

King Of Steel, runner-up in the Derby at Epsom before landing the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, emerged best of the rest in third for Roger Varian.

“I think he ran a great race, he lost nothing in defeat and came there with a great chance. He has been beaten by two mature, good, older horses,” said the trainer.

“I’m not sure he got home as well as the first two. We have always got the option of coming back to 10 furlongs, but he had some great horses in behind him, two very good ones in front of him, and it’s only his fifth run, so he can only improve can’t he?

“He has the scope and is a big horse. I’m sure he needs a little time between races. He’s had a tough race today, but he’s like a teenager, still.

“He is a good horse. We’d be happier if he’d won, but we think he ran a great race.

“We got beat, but it was a super race – a championship race. He turned up and really ran his race.”

The disappointment of the contest was Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin, who narrowly denied King Of Steel Derby glory at Epsom last month before following up in the Irish Derby.

He was the 9-4 favourite to follow in the hoofprints of Ballydoyle great Galileo by adding the King George to his two Derby wins, but was under pressure a long way from home and was eased right down in the end by Ryan Moore to finish last of 10.

O’Brien said: “There are no excuses. Whatever happened, the power ran out and it ran out early.

“That is the unusual thing. The race wasn’t even started.

“He was calm in the paddock, we were very happy with him. There is obviously a reason and we’ll find it. It is frustrating, but that’s the way.”

Ascot’s director of racing Nick Smith insisted he was “very pleased” with attendances at the two-day King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes Festival meeting.

“It was a fabulous race, a deep race and fought out by two popular older horses,” he said.

“It was a race for the ages, although from a purely purist point of view, we needed the Derby winner to play a part. For whatever reason, he sadly was beaten before the race got started – that’s horses for you. The other three-year-old, King Of Steel, ran his race, but it was all about the two who drew clear, really.”

However, rail strikes played a part, with the crowd diminished as a result.

Smith added: “Overall, we have been very pleased with the turnout of just under 19,000, which given the rail strikes, was commendable.

“We moved a few things around on the Friday schedule and that seemed to work in terms of field size, and we were treated to a good King George, with a great finish. I think we have got to be happy in the circumstances. It was a great advertisement for racing, which is the main thing.”