Aidan O’Brien is no stranger to success when it comes to winning the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes having won the Ascot race four times with Galileo, Dylan Thomas, Duke Of Marmalade and Highland Reel.
Despite his success, O’Brien is not one to underestimate the demands of the race, with former stars St Nicholas Abbey, Love and Auguste Rodin all having tasted defeat in Berkshire down the years. This year, he sends arguably his two best middle-distance horses to Ascot for the mile and a half showpiece in the shape of Benvenuto Cellini and Minnie Hauk.
O’Brien said: “There’s no better mile-and-a-half race anywhere. It’s a difficult race, usually run on fast ground and it’s run at Ascot too, which is a very special place.
"You need a horse that stays. They have to have class and it’s where the three-year-old’s meet the older horses for the first time."
Minnie Hauk was a three-time Group 1 winner last year, and went close in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe when beaten a head by Daryz. She comes into the race after finishing second behind Ombudsman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
O’Brien added: “We ran her in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes with a view to coming back for the King George, and we thought that was probably her best run ever. The extra couple of furlongs should really suit her."
The daughter of Frankel contested the $5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf at the end of her three-year-old campaign last year, and a return trip to America could well be on the cards again if all goes to plan.
The winner of this year’s King George will receive an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Turf through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In. The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of stakes races, the winners of which receive automatic starting positions with fees paid into a corresponding race of the 2026 Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be held October 30-31 at Keeneland.
O’Brien said: “The Breeders’ Cup is massive. We went there last year and got things wrong tactically. You can’t go anywhere better, it’s where all the horses meet. It’s very competitive racing at good tracks and the atmosphere is second to none."
Benvenuto Cellini was controversially deemed a non-runner when he was sent off favorite for the Betfred Derby at Epsom last month, but he made amends for that when he ran out a comfortable winner of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh on June 28.
O’Brien said: “We think he’s a very high-quality, classy horse on fast ground. He’s probably a bit quicker than Galileo was, but he moves like him and we think he’s brave like he was too."
Provided all goes smoothly with the rest of Benvenuto Cellini’s European campaign, O’Brien hinted at the possibility that Benvenuto Cellini will join stablemate Minnie Hauk in Kentucky later this year.
He said: “I think he could go. He’s a horse that will enjoy travelling and he’s a great mover.
"He would be fine coming back to a mile-and-a-quarter, and I think you need that kind of pace at the Breeders’ Cup. He’s an easy horse to train who doesn’t take a lot of work so it could suit him perfectly."
O’Brien is tied with Bob Baffert as the most successful trainers in the history of the Breeders’ Cup with 21 victories each, and he will look to add to that tally this year.
O'Brien said: “It’s the most incredible initiative. We all have foals and every foal born is put into the Breeders’ Cup. That tells you how important it is. The pots are huge, the atmosphere is amazing, and it is an incredibly well-run organization. I think the Win and You’re In initiative is a great idea, as it encourages connections to run in those races."
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