King George tips: Sporting Life Podcast team selections

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GRAHAM CUNNINGHAM

Let’s get off the fence here. I think Calandagan will win and win well. If Jan Brueghel wins then I’ll be losing on the race. He wears cheekpieces for the first time a race after winning a Group One which is a rare occurrence and I think Calandagan’s body of work overall, especially his Ascot record, and his relative speed and ability to quicken, should be the decisive factors here.

We know there’s half-a-length between them on Epsom form but I think the set-up for Calandagan on Saturday is likely to suit him better than Jan Brueghel. I think Calandagan will win and Kalpana rather than Jan Brueghel is the big danger.

BILLY NASH

When I was looking at the race earlier in the week I was pretty convinced that Calandagan was going to win it but I’ve come round to Jan Brueghel principally because they’ve put cheekpieces on.

I think he will really benefit from a set of headgear, especially over this trip. He can be a little awkward, has a tendency to have an awkward head carriage at times and does race lazily but I do think the application of cheekpieces will really suit him.

We know that they’re going to do, Continuous will go to the front, Jan Brueghel will sit in behind him and it’s just a case of catch me if you can once Ryan Moore goes for home. That will be plenty soon enough, he’s a hard horse to catch and the cheekpieces will help him.

And although Calandagan was very impressive in France the last day, it’s very easy to pick holes in that form and I think Jan Brueghel, coming in slightly fresher, can win again.

BEN LINFOOT

It’s a tough one to unravel. I tend to agree with GC in that I think Calandagan might have too many gears around this track for Jan Brueghel. It’s more conventional than Epsom and there was a hint of a tail-swish from Calandagan that day and he’d finished second four times in a row. People were perhaps questioning his attitude but I just thought Jan Brueghel, that day, got the absolute run of the race.

I didn’t think Calandagan handled the track very well and I can easily see that form being reversed and I do think the biggest danger is Kalpana. I think she’d have been a huge player had we seen more significant rainfall. The ground might just be a little quick for her and I see Calandagan winning this.

ED CHAMBERLIN

The Coronation Cup working out in the King George is extraordinary when you look back on the record. Daylami was the last to do the double yet so many horses have been beaten on that totally different track at Epsom and come on and win at Ascot.

Pyledriver did it recently, Swain, Doyen and others too. That’s very much in Calandagan’s favour this time around. Kalpana is coming along nicely but I do think they're working back from the first Sunday in October when she will get her ground at ParisLongchamp and Rebel’s Romance adds so much to this race.

His CV is extraordinary, he’s such a popular horse, rock solid and I think William Buick will serve it up to them in the straight, I think he’ll hit the front at some point, but I’m in the Calandagan camp myself too.

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