John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Saturday.
Three points of interest
Almaqam representing Ombudsman form in York Stakes
Ed Walker’s highly-regarded four-year-old Almaqam returns to action in the York Stakes (14:40) two months after showing plenty of improvement to win the Brigadier Gerard Stakes. He’s been waiting for the ground to ease in the meantime but hasn’t needed to leave his box for his reputation to have received a boost thanks to the subsequent exploits of Sandown runner-up Ombudsman.
Almaqam had the advantage of race fitness over Ombudsman, as he’d been third in the Gordon Richards Stakes over the same course and distance the previous month, and he was in receipt of 3 lb from the runner-up as well, but Almaqam proved himself a high-class colt in making all the running to beat Ombudsman by a length and three quarters with the pair clear of the rest. Ombudsman has shown improvement of his own since, impressively beating last season’s Champion Stakes winner Anmaat in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and only just failing to follow up back at Sandown in the Eclipse when beaten a neck by three-year-old Delacroix.
Almaqam’s form looks particularly strong, therefore, and he should be hard to beat 7 lb clear in the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings. Three-year-old Stanhope Gardens, who was himself narrowly beaten by Delacroix last season, can be the one to chase Almaqam home as he was a fine fifth in the Derby last time and remains open to improvement.
Focus on Cosi Bello at Ascot
There are a couple of competitive handicaps over the straight course at Ascot prior to the King George and Charlie Fellowes’ three-year-old Cosi Bello looks the most interesting runner in the mile contest (15:35).
A half-brother to the smart Urban Icon, who went close to landing a similar event himself, the Golden Mile at Goodwood, Cosi Bello steps up in trip here after just the three runs at seven furlongs. He won the first two of those on the all-weather, a valuable maiden at Chelmsford in April and a novice at Kempton in convincing fashion the following month. While Cosi Bello was foiled in his hat-trick bid on his handicap/turf debut at Chester late last month, he showed plenty of improvement and emerged from the race looking a potentially smart colt.
Racing in touch, Cosi Bello briefly ran green when shaken up and was only edged out in the final hundred yards to go down by a head to Mayday Malone, trying to concede the winner more than a stone in weight. That earned Cosi Bello the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag and he has the potential to improve further, as well as being 3 lb clear in the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings.
Coronation Cup principals meet again in King George
Just half a length separated Jan Brueghel and Calandagan in the Coronation Cup at Epsom last month and the same pair are proving hard to split in the betting for their rematch in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (16:10) where just three others take them on.
Last year’s St Leger winner Jan Brueghel can be excused his defeat at the Curragh on his reappearance in April as that was his first start for seven months and came over an inadequate trip. He certainly put that behind him with a gutsy display at Epsom to take his career record to five wins from six starts. Never far away with stablemate Continuous setting a good pace – a task he’ll be entrusted with again here – Jan Brueghel led two furlongs out and repelled Calandagan’s challenge to prevail by half a length. Despite that result, Aidan O’Brien evidently feels that Jan Brueghel, who’s more of a stayer than his chief rival, needs sharpening up a little and applies cheekpieces for the first time.
Some might have felt it was Calandagan who would benefit more from headgear after Epsom as that was his fourth consecutive second-place finish in a Group 1. As a hold-up performer, it wasn’t hard to find excuses for those defeats, however, and he finally gained a first success at the top level in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud last time when he stretched clear in the final furlong to beat last year’s Arc runner-up Aventure by three and a half lengths.
That was Calandagan’s first win since his impressive six-length victory in last year’s King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot. That course-and-distance win suggests Calandagan has every chance of reversing Epsom form with Jan Brueghel on this more conventional track, and now that the partnership with his new jockey this season Mickael Barzalona appears to have clicked, he can provide his trainer Francis-Henri Graffard with another King George twelve months after Goliath.
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