‘Enable the best I’ve trained,’ says John Gosden
Enable was 6kg apart on the race card and proved a class apart on the racecourse as she joined an illustrious group of great fillies to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
John Gosden hailed her the best filly he had trained after the Oaks and Irish Oaks winner produced another dominant victory that propelled her into the superstar bracket. Not one of the year’s Derby winners turned up for the clash of the generations, but Enable might well have beaten them anyway in showing she could well be head and shoulders above the rest of her age group in the course of a 4.50-length win in the Qipcosponsored feature.
Being run in a downpour – although not as torrential as when Enable had scored at Epsom – the race did not provide the conditions in which last year's winner Highland Reel could mount much of a defence. But even his best might not have been good enough as Enable, receiving 6kg in fillies’ and weight-for-age allowances, coasted past him on the bend and quickened clear for an impressive success that propelled her to a best price 9-4 (from 9-2) with Betfair for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Eclipse winner Ulysses was briefly cruising on her heels, but, once Frankie Dettori let her go, second place was the best that could be expected for the Sir Michael Stoute representative.
Idaho ran on for third, with his big brother and Aidan O’Brientrained stablemate, Highland Reel, fourth.
In landing Ascot’s midsummer showpiece Enable matched some of the sport’s best-known fillies, such as Park Top, Dahlia, Pawneese, Time Charter, Danedream and Taghrooda – another Oaks and King George winner from the Gosden stable.
“She’s a wonderful filly,” said Gosden. “To follow in the footsteps of the likes of Dahlia and Pawneese, and even Taghrooda, says a lot.
Frankie knew she stayed, that he was on a good filly and he didn’t want to take back and get in trouble. She exploded early in the straight. Ulysses made a wonderful run at her but she’s a very smart filly and understandably gets weight as a three-year-old against her elders.
“She’d have won on good ground. She can handle anything. She’s won on Tapeta, good to firm and now soft to loose.”
Gosden won his third King George in seven years, the first having been with Enable’s sire Nathaniel. Taghrooda went on to contest the Yorkshire Oaks and Arc, finishing second and third, and Enable is set to follow the same path.
“I think she’s the best filly I’ve trained,” continued Gosden. “Royal Heroine in America, Taghrooda and her are fabulous fillies. Then there’s The Fugue and Dar Re Mi. I love great fillies to train. They’re a pleasure to be around.
“The style of her winning makes her great – it’s quite obvious she wants to race. She just wants things to go her way and takes the race by the horns.”
He added: “The plan has very much been the Yorkshire Oaks. This popped up in between. York’s now where we want to go, and then freshen up and see where we are in terms of the Arc.”
Gosden praised the dedication of Dettori, who after fracturing a shoulder last month fought his way back to fitness and dieted in order to ride at the required weight. – racingpost.com