King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes runners confirmed as O’Brien fields four

Aidan O’Brien will have a strong hand in Saturday’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, with the Ballydoyle trainer declaring four runners for one of the biggest races of the Flat season.

Benvenuto Cellini and Minnie Hauk headline O’Brien’s team for the £2 million contest, with Action and Lambourn completing his quartet. Jockey bookings for the four runners are yet to be confirmed.

Benvenuto Cellini heads into the race with leading claims after securing his first Group 1 victory in the Irish Derby. The three-year-old had previously been controversially ruled a non-runner in the Derby following an incident in the stalls, but bounced back in style at the Curragh.

He will attempt to become just the third three-year-old in the last decade to win the King George, following in the footsteps of Enable in 2017 and Adayar in 2021.

Only six three-year-olds have won the race this century, with Galileo in 2001 and Nathaniel in 2011 among the previous winners. Benvenuto Cellini will start from the widest draw in stall nine, while Minnie Hauk has been handed stall one.

Minnie Hauk brings strong Group 1 form into the contest, having finished second behind Ombudsman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. The mare enjoyed a remarkable campaign last season, winning the Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks before finishing runner-up to Daryz in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

French trainer Francis Graffard will be represented by the last two winners of the King George, with reigning champion Calandagan joined by 2024 winner Goliath in the nine-runner field.

Calandagan, who was crowned the world’s best racehorse last year, heads the betting at 7-4 and will be ridden by Mickael Barzalona. The five-year-old has continued to perform at the highest level this season, winning two of his three Group 1 starts, although he failed to fire when finishing 42 lengths behind in the Coronation Cup at Epsom before narrowly landing the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

A victory for Calandagan would see him join Enable as the only horse this century to win back-to-back renewals of the King George. Enable achieved the feat in 2019 and 2020 after winning the race as a five-year-old and six-year-old.

Goliath, ridden by Cristophe Soumillon, claimed the 2024 King George after defeating subsequent Arc winner Bluestocking. He added another Group 1 success in last year’s Grosser Preis von Baden and arrives at Ascot following an encouraging third-place finish in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, despite Soumillon’s right foot slipping from the iron in the closing stages.

Japan is represented by two runners, led by Masquerade Ball, who will be partnered by Christophe Lemaire. The Takahisa Tezuka-trained four-year-old finished just a head behind Calandagan in the Japan Cup in November and is closely matched with the favourite.

Oisin Murphy takes the ride on outsider Wurttemberg for trainer Hiroshi Miyamoto. The four-year-old was narrowly beaten by Croix Du Nord in the Tenno Sho (Spring) at Kyoto last time out, finishing second by a nose in a Grade 1 contest.

Kalpana is the only British-trained runner in the field. Colin Keane’s mount finished ahead of Goliath when beaten by just a short head by Giabellotto in the Harwicke Stakes and was runner-up to Calandagan in last year’s King George.

The mare has also won the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes twice at Ascot, making her one of the most experienced contenders in the line-up.

There has been just one previous King George featuring only one British-trained runner since the Racing Post’s form database began in 1988. That came in 2020, when Enable was odds-on favourite and Aidan O’Brien was the only trainer willing to oppose her in a three-runner field.

Bay City Roller was the only horse entered for the race not to be declared on Thursday morning.

Away from the King George, the Ascot card also features the Moet and Chandon International Handicap, where unbeaten three-year-old Extremely Zain heads a 17-runnner field.

The William Haggas-trained colt has won all three of his starts so far, most recently scoring at York, and has been supported into 11-4 favourite from 6-1 for the £150,000 contest. Tom Marquand will take the ride for the first time.