Review: Gr.1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Race Video 2019, Race Result 2019, Race Info)
Enable Wins Epic Duel With Crystal Ocean
The Enable Vs Crystal Ocean match was always meant to be spine-tingling and that's exactly what it was. Every nerve ending was a-buzz while watching the Arc heroine come out on top shushing the nay-sayers.
Enable was back in training to race after a 245-day absence despite the fact that she achieved everything that there is to achieve last season. She was the first Arc winner to follow up in the Breeders’ Cup the following month – a feat which had been attempted by eight others before her.
However, the lure of becoming the first-ever horse to win three Arcs has proven to be too strong a temptation, and John Gosden’s star mare claimed her tenth straight success in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown earlier this month and now with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes she has not only retained her crown but also landed the Breeders Cup berth.
Under champion jockey Frankie Dettori, Enable, went head to head with the runner-up for two furlongs of a classic racing battle.
Crystal Ocean, the Sir Michael Stoute runner ridden by James Doyle, briefly headed Enable but she fought back.
Waldgeist was third as 2017 winner Enable clocked up an 11th straight win.
Initially, Enable found herself wider than ideal as Aidan O'Brien trained-Norway made the running.
However, he was never a serious contender for her and eventually similarly popular Investec Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck dropped away, Enable and Crystal Ocean went to the front in the home straight.
Enable prevailed and remains on track to aim for unprecedented third success in Europe's richest race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, in October.
Gosden, who indicated York's Ebor meeting next month remained on the agenda as her next outing, said: "She's a brave and wonderful filly, and what a great battle with Crystal Ocean."
Click Here To Watch Race 2019
Full Finishing list 2019
1st Enable (J. Gosden,F. Dettori), 2nd Crystal Ocean (S. Stoute,J. Doyle), 3rd Waldgeist (A. Fabre,P. Boudot), 4th Salouen (S. Kirk,J. Crowley), 5th Hunting Horn (A. O'Brien,S. Heffernan), 6th Cheval Grand (Y. Tomomichi,O. Murphy), 7th Norway (A. O'Brien,W. Lordan), 8th Morando (A. Balding,P. McDonald), 9th Defoe (R. Varian,A. Atzeni), 10th Anthony Van Dyck (A. O'Brien,R. Moore), 11th Magic Wand (A. O'Brien,D. O'Brien)
Race Info:
Distance: 1m 3f 211y (2,406 metres), Surface: Turf, Track: Right-handed, Qualification: Three-years-old and up, Weight: 8 st 10 lb (3yo);9 st 7 lb (4yo+), Allowances,3 lb for fillies and mares, 4 lb for S. Hemisphere 4yo, Purse: £1,250,000 (2018), 1st: £708,875