All eyes on Ascot as Enable stars in a King George for the ages

In the week when Britain's second female prime minister left office, Britain's first lady of racing will appear before her people at Ascot, where the indisputably magnificent Enable headlines a King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes comparable to those of the race's golden era.

Nowhere in the world of Flat racing right now is there an active horse more loved or admired than Enable, triumphant in 11 of the 12 tests she has tackled, a two-time winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and now aspiring to regain the King George crown she forfeited last season through no fault of her own.

With the reborn, revived and remarkable Frankie Dettori on her back, Enable began her five-year-old campaign in flawless fashion, capturing the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on July 6. The performance she put up was typically marvellous, but she may now need to do more as she continues on the road back to Paris, where on October's first Sunday she will seek to become the Arc's first triple champion.

For this is a King George like King Georges used to be.

It is a battle that takes us back to the halcyon days of a Qipco-sponsored prize won by true icons of the Flat. Ribot, Nijinsky, Mill Reef, Brigadier Gerard, Shergar, Dancing Brave and Nashwan are all on the roll of honour, yet none of those legends ever lined up in a second King George. That Enable comes back for more is testament to her own constitution, the skills of John Gosden and the sporting approach of owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah.

The betting suggests her task is straightforward, and it may well be if she can match the devastating level of her wide-margin Ascot tour de force in 2017. Perhaps, though, what plays out before us at around 3.40pm will not be so simple.

The King George was framed as a clash of the generations. Thanks to Aidan O'Brien it has returned to being just that. No horse since Galileo in 2001 has completed the Derby-King George double. Eighteen years later the master of Ballydoyle hopes to bridge that gap with Galileo's son Anthony Van Dyck, one of four runners he saddles in a crown jewel boasting £1.25 million in purse money. Galileo is also the father of Nathaniel, who in 2011 claimed the King George and then carried on his good work by siring Enable.

Galileo's influence is all across this King George, although he is only indirectly related to the second favourite as uncle. Twelve months ago Sir Michael Stoute sent out Poet's Word and Crystal Ocean to fight out a furious finish. Crystal Ocean lost out both then and when thumped by Enable in the September Stakes – in his defence he conceded 8lb – but he finally gained Group 1 glory at Royal Ascot, his victory under Dettori powering him to the top of the world rankings tree. Now we find out how easy is the head that wears the crown.

Like Enable and Crystal Ocean, Defoe is excelling at five, having landed the Coronation Cup and Hardwicke Stakes, and so is French visitor Waldgeist. At the age of seven Cheval Grand is even older. He has also travelled even further in his mission to be hailed Japan's first King George winner.

They have come from far and wide for this wonderful race, and from far and wide there will be fans cheering on Enable. Few things divide us like politics, but nothing can unite us like sport. As the late Hugh McIlvanney said, it is the magnificent triviality. Rarely, however, has there been such need to submerge ourselves in the magnificently trivial. A horse like Enable does indeed bring us together.

This time she will do that in a week when serious illness snatched away poor Sea Of Class, so nearly the conqueror of Enable at Longchamp only 293 days ago. Fate can be horribly cruel. It can strike at any point, so we must celebrate our stars, appreciative that we have them in the here and now.

That we have Enable is a particularly good reason to give thanks. She is one of the great horses. The King George is one of the great races. As the great race is again graced by the great horse we will hopefully have ever more reason to be grateful.

Credit: David Cramphorn

Armchair guide

1.50 Ascot
Group 3 Princess Margaret Keeneland Stakes, 6f
Summer Romance heads the 1,000 Guineas market following an impressive Listed win at Newmarket last time, and the unbeaten juvenile filly bids to enhance her Classic claims.

2.05 York
Sky Bet "Get Knotted" Handicap, 7f
Can the Michael Dods-trained seven-year-old Get Knotted win the race named after him? He is a triple course-and-distance victor and heads the betting.

2.25 Ascot
Porsche Handicap, 1m
Motakhayyel and Wings Of Time were successful at Newmarket's July meeting, and the pair face off in a race Charlie Appleby, trainer of Wings Of Time, won two years ago.

2.40 York
Sky Bet Dash Handicap, 6f
Jockeys' championship leader Danny Tudhope will be hoping for some winners on the Knavesmire, especially with Oisin Murphy cutting the gap in recent days. Tudhope partners recent course-and-distance winner Gulliver.

3.00 Ascot
Moet & Chandon International Stakes Heritage Handicap, 7f
Burnt Sugar gave Roger Fell a big moment when winning this race last year, can the seven-year-old recapture his form having been unplaced in six subsequent starts?

3.15 York
Group 2 Sky Bet York Stakes, 1m2½f
Shortly before we get to see Enable in action, the form of her Eclipse victory could be boosted as Regal Reality, third at Sandown, bids for a first Group 2 win.

3.40 Ascot
Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes, 1m4f
The best is saved until last as the mighty Enable bids to win this race for a second time and secure a ninth top-level success.

Ascot return poses unique new question

Enable has emphatically answered the questions posed during her stunning career, but a return to Ascot asks a new, amusingly obscure, one. Until she bursts out of her stall in her bid for a second King George victory, Enable has yet to run at a track more than once.

Her remarkable career spans 11 wins at 11 different tracks and, as if to further emphasise her adaptability, they came in four different countries and on two continents. Even her sole defeat came at Newbury, another course to tick off the list. The travel expenses racked up by any Enable superfans who have followed the five-year-old mare from Newcastle to Longchamp and Churchill Downs are likely substantial.

There is every chance if you looked up versatility in an equine-themed dictionary, you may simply see the explanation: Enable.

Enable won the Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs last year, one of 11 tracks the superstar mare has won atCredit: Edward Whitaker

The wide array of courses Enable has conquered makes you wonder if she can possibly be beaten. The tight, nimble turns of Chester? No problem. The unique camber of Epsom, mixed with a raging thunderstorm as a cinematic backdrop? Cool as a cucumber. The travel required to reach at Churchill Downs? New timezone, same result. A drop in trip on quick ground at Sandown when returning from a lengthy absence? Done without a fuss. Next.

And so Enable returns to Berkshire, back in a familiar colosseum and primed for another battle. They say in some sports competitors should never go back to the home of former glories. But will it make a jot of difference to the Enable, who never ceases to remain anything other than calm, focused and simply brilliant? The widest draw of all adds a new element to the equation, but the sums normally add up to the same solution. Enable runs, Enable wins, Frankie celebrates.

Five epic King George clashes

This year's King George could be one for the ages. We look back at some classic contests from years gone by.

Grundy v Bustino (1975)
This race goes down as one of the most thrilling King Georges in history. Pat Eddery and Grundy, who won the Derby on his last start, held off the challenge of St Leger hero Bustino in a thrilling head-to-head finish between two Classic champions.

Nashwan v Cacoethes (1989)
Nashwan remains the last horse to land the 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Eclipse and King George in the same season and the latter was a hard-fought success over Cacoethes. He battled hard in the final stages to prevail by a neck, completing the epic four-timer.

Swain v Pilsudski (1997)
The first of two King George wins for Swain and it would go down as one of the bravest performances in the race's history. A 16-1 chance, he kicked for home early but kept on powerfully to hold off nearest challenger Pilsudski by a length.

Danedream v Nathaniel (2012)
German raider Danedream was victorious in a star-studded renewal, finishing strongly in the final stages to defeat Nathaniel by a nose. The previous year's Arc heroine was given a supreme ride by Andrasch Starke to hit the line and seal the race.

Poet's Word v Crystal Ocean (2018)
It was the battle of the Sir Michael Stoute horses as they went clear of the field with Crystal Ocean the first to make his challenge for victory. But under a powerful James Doyle drive, Poet's Word surged to the line to deny his stablemate in a tight finish.

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