Unbeaten Royal Ascot Winner Amiloc to Miss King George
Amiloc will not be confirmed for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) July 26, with his trainer Ralph Beckett keen to give him more time to recover from his Royal Ascot exertions.
The 3-year-old had been a general 10-1 chance for Ascot’s middle-distance showpiece behind Calandagan and Jan Brueghel after landing last month’s King Edward VII Stakes (G1), but will not take up his place.
“He’s taking longer to get over his King Edward VII win than I would like in order for him to go to the King George,” Beckett told the Racing Post July 20. “I don’t regret going to Ascot at all. He’s sound, he’s just taking a little longer to get over it than he needs to for him to run on Saturday.
“We don’t always get these things right—we don’t nearly enough—but if you’re prepared to go with your gut then that’s the way to go.”
Amiloc is a gelding and therefore unable to run in the St Leger (G1) at Doncaster, but he is eligible for the Irish equivalent at the Curragh Sept. 14.
“There’s lots of stuff ready for him,” Beckett said. “He’s in the Irish St Leger and there’s a lot of stuff in the autumn for him as well, and we’ll aim him in that direction. The Voltigeur is a possibility and wouldn’t come too soon. He’ll be ready for that if we think it’s a good plan. He’ll tell me when he’s ready.”
Were Amiloc to head to the Great Voltigeur, he could clash with dual Derby winner Lambourn , who Aidan O’Brien said on Sunday could also skip the King George in favor of York.
Amiloc, who races in the colors of owner-breeders David and Vimy Aykroyd, took his unbeaten record to five at Royal Ascot, having defeated his stablemate Sir Dinadan the time before when putting in a remarkable performance at Goodwood in May.
Beckett said: “He got the reputation for being quirky for the way he ran his race in the Cocked Hat, which was understandable as it was an extraordinary way to go about winning a race. But I think that was largely down to the uphill start at Goodwood and he was slow to get going. He wasn’t slow to get going at Ascot.”
Sir Dinadan, also entered in the Great Voltigeur, was a front-running fifth behind Lambourn in the Irish Derby (G1) and Beckett indicated the recent wet weather would be in his favor.
“He’s come out of the Curragh in good shape,” he said. “He needs some juice in the ground for him to show his best and he hasn’t had that yet, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it pans out for him.
“I think more than anything else, he was done for going toe-to-toe with a very good horse from the outset. He was the only horse who took the winner on and he paid for that late on.”
There was also a positive update on Kimpton Down’s group 1 star Kinross, who has a third Lennox Stakes (G2) at Glorious Goodwood in his sights. The 8-year-old is the 4-1 ante-post favorite for the group 2 contest July 29.
“He’s very well and I’m looking forward to going to the Lennox,” Beckett said. “Hopefully he retains enough of his speed to go and have another go at the City of York afterwards, but it would appear so. On his seasonal reappearance, he looked to retain all of his ability.”
