racingbetter.co.uk Free Racing Tips
King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2011  

Ascot Racecourse

QuinnBet

racing_news/

By Dylan Jenear ValueChecker

Workforce Cut for the King George at Ascot
18/07/11

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Workforce, winner of last season’s Epsom Derby and Arc, was on Sunday slashed in the betting for next weekend’s Betfair King George VI Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot after producing a good piece of work on the gallops under big-race jockey Ryan Moore.

Workforce
© Racehorse Photos

Workforce
The recent wet spell will be very much in the four-year-old’s favour, and he will also appreciate the step back up to 1½m after finishing runner-up to So You Think in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown over a two-furlong shorter trip last month.

Workforce will be a tough nut to crack at Ascot. I am surprised to see that St Nicholas Abbey, one of five Aidan O’Brien-trained entries, is favourite ahead of Stoute’s contender, as his credentials are nowhere near as compelling as Workforce’s going into this race.

However, I am of the opinion that they will both be trumped by Godolphin’s Rewilding, who didn’t get the credit he deserved for beating So You Think in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. He can be backed at 11-4 with William Hill at the time of writing, which looks generous to me.

In the postscript of the Prince of Wales’s, the focus was largely on the defeat of So You Think, rather than the victory of Rewilding. Admittedly, So You Think was probably committed too far out at the royal meeting, but the bigger picture needs to be viewed.

I was impressed with the way Rewilding travelled throughout the race at Royal Ascot, and he demonstrated a potent turn of foot to wear down the Ballydoyle star close home. The 1¼m trip on that occasion is sharper than ideal for the son of Tiger Hill, who I’m confident is a much better horse over 1½m.

Rewilding, whose trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni tasted Classic glory when Blue Bunting landed the Irish Oaks on Sunday, has produced his most commanding displays over the King George trip. Indeed, he looked very good when winning the Great Voltigeur at York last season and when dispatching with his 13 rivals in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in March.

Although Rewilding was behind Workforce in the Derby at Epsom in 2010, it’s patently obvious that he has improved subsequently, and I envisage his turn of foot proving decisive in the battle with that rival this time, while St Nicholas Abbey is a recommended lay for exchange players – he’s far too short for a horse that still has a fair bit to prove.

Recommendation: Rewilding

 

tumpline internet home | associations | bloodstock agents | bookmakers | information | horses | jockeys | links | overseas | portals | racecourses | race horse trainers | sales | studs | syndicates | submit site email
© racingbetter.co.uk • 91 Tribune Drive • Carlisle • CA3 0LE