John Gosden warns King George heroine Enable could head straight to Longchamp

Some of the joy of Enable's pulsating King George victory was lessened on Sunday when it emerged the wondermare may have run her final race in Britain.

Enable had been expected to go to York next month for the Juddmonte International or Darley Yorkshire Oaks before retiring after her bid to complete a historic hat-trick in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on October 6.

However, John Gosden has now raised the possibility of her sidestepping a trip to the Knavesmire.

Asked about running plans on Luck on Sunday on Racing TV, Gosden said: "She's very expressive and will tell us what she wants to do. It's whether we go to York or straight to the Arc. We'll make those decisions in the next week.

"She's in two races at York so it will be a later decision as to which one we go for as we would be training for the same meeting. The main decision though is whether we go to York or not."

Gosden reported Enable "in good order" after her thrilling King George victory, coming from further back than ideal and getting the better of a dramatic duel with Crystal Ocean to prevail by a neck.

The Khalid Abdullah-owned mare and jockey Frankie Dettori returned to scenes of wild acclamation and York hopes she will return to the track where she landed the Yorkshire Oaks after her first King George triumph in 2017.

"We know they are waiting for her to tell them whether it's York or whether it's straight to the Arc – we're obviously biased!" said James Brennan, York's head of marketing and sponsorship.

Juddmonte International card and betting

Darley Yorkshire Oaks card and betting

"It's a terrifically exciting time – in the words of Lord Coe before London 2012, 'we're heading to when it will be our time'."

Asked how many extra racegoers Enable could add to the crowd, Brennan said: "Quantifying the effect will be tough, but we've seen the excitement she generated at Ascot on Saturday and in miserable weather at York it's rare that an away race generates the excitement that it did here.

"I was passing through some once-a-year music show racegoers in a box and they were all asking 'which race is Enable in?' and trying to get an away bet on.

"She is now box office. We were honoured and privileged to have Frankel run at York in 2012 so we have some sense of the effect. From a typical Juddmonte International day that would have 18,000 to 20,000 here depending on the weather, he took us north of 30,000."

The King George crowd was 26,406, up from 25,604 last year, and Ascot director of racing and communications Nick Smith was bowled over by the reaction to Enable's win.

"You judge her by the reaction on the track and in the parade ring afterwards," he said. "You always know something special is happening when everyone comes out and the whole parade ring is full.

Jumping for joy: there was a trademark Dettori dismount following the King GeorgeCredit: Mark Cranham

"We can get 8,000 people around the parade ring for those moments, plus extra people on the balcony. The King George has a pretty engaged audience – this was 10,000 people coming out to celebrate one of the true greats of our sport."

Smith also reckons Saturday's events were a shot in the arm for the King George itself.

He said: "People want the King George to be the defining midsummer clash. It's not just Ascot's race, our Pattern is the envy of the world but certain races need to play their part.

"The King George has always been at the absolute heart of the Flat season and there was a palpable sense on Saturday that everyone who was there knew this was the race in Britain that meant the most this year."

The Enable effect also meant ITV's peak viewing figures were up to 934,000, compared to 921,000 in 2018, but the average audience was 650,000, down from 689,000 last year.

Presenter Ed Chamberlin was among those to marvel at the scenes after Enable's success.

"It was special at Sandown when there was that stampede to the winner's enclosure and it was also noisy on Dettori day at Royal Ascot, but I've never heard a reception like that," he said.

"It was magic and the noise meant I didn't have to say anything, I just let the pictures tell the story. It was very special."

More to read:

Enable prevails in epic King George battle to leave Frankie drained but joyous

James Doyle: Crystal Ocean left every inch of his heart out on the track

Derby-winning rider John Reid hails Dettori's brilliance on Enable

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