Speaking to BOYLE Sports , renowned trainer Richard Hannon has given his verdict on the King George at Ascot on Saturday as competition in the Flat racing season ramps up.
Hannon believes there is no horse good enough to beat Calandagan , who returns to defend his crown after an impressive win in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud , describing him as pretty much unbeatable when you set aside his blip in the Coronation Cup .
As one of the country's leading trainers, Hannon has also assessed whether the £2m prize money can be justified, and explained what sets a true King George horse apart from a mere Derby winner.
The Standout
Your Thoughts on the King George?
I have never had a runner in it. You cannot look beyond Calandagan , who won last year. To win from where he did in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud was an extremely good performance. You take that one blip of the Coronation Cup out, and he is pretty much unbeatable. I cannot see a horse good enough to beat him.
The Japanese don't tend to win here. But Calandagan has gone there and won. And it takes an extremely good horse to do that. And that might have had a bit of an impact on him early on in the year. But the way he won the other day and where he came from was very impressive. And if he's back to 95% of what he was last year, he'll win.
Prize Money
The Race Is Worth £2m For the First Time. Can That Be Justified?
It's good for racing. But I just wish those races, which are stallion-making races when you win them, were not just about the prize money. I think they'd be better off taking, say, £700,000 out of it and have 10 £70,000 maidens to feed through to the bottom of the sport. That feeds a bigger cross-section of the owner population.
Races like the King George are important. And they say they have to put it up to attract international competition. I'm not going to say we don't want them, but they are the same colours turning up every year in these races. The best horses deserve that prize money, but I just wish some of it was injected elsewhere.
A True King George Horse
What Type of Horse Do You Need For That Race?
There has got to be more than a Derby winner, effectively. If I look back to when I first started getting into racing, I will never ever forget races like that between Nashwan and Cacoethes in 1989, which I watched from the top of the old stand. And then I watched Old Vic being beaten on the line by Belmez . These races just stick out in the memory. They are truly great horses.
The English Derby is a great race, but the horses don't have any history when they're at the Derby stage. Whereas in the King George , you can have Derby and Oaks winners, previous Arc winners, Coronation Cup winners, all sorts. So, it really is the best race of the summer.
Galway
What Is the Galway Festival Experience Like?
I have only ever had one runner there, and I didn't go over to watch it. It was some sort of sales bonus incentive race. We were drawn 19 out of 19. The horse was already there when they made the draw. So, we had to stay there and run. Obviously, it had no chance going around the bend.
It tends to clash with Goodwood , but I understand how popular it is with Irish people.
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