The King George left me feeling disappointed and further highlighted the lack of middle-distance blood in British pedigrees

The time was good, the winner looked good and there were plenty of Group 1 winners in the line-up, so there is no reason why there should be any negative reaction to Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. However, I've always been a glass half empty kind of dude and I found it a really depressing race for a number of reasons.

First, the ground wasn't anywhere near as quick as it should have been, and while I'm no clerk of the course and can hardly keep my back garden in shape, the decision to water the track overnight when the times on the Friday suggested it was on the slow side of good requires an explanation.

Look at the two horses who dominated the race. The winner, Goliath, is German bred by Alderflug, a sire whose best horses relish testing ground, and the runner-up Bluestocking was only going to run if the ground had some give in it. The form horses Auguste Rodin and Rebel's Romance, who are both best on fast ground, were well beaten.