King George Stakes Tips and Offers

King George Stakes Preview: Tips, Betting Offers and Odds

Now over 100 years old, the Qatar King George Stakes has long been established as one of the Day 4 highlights at Glorious Goodwood. Here we pinpoint some of the best odds and offers available and provide our betting tips for the contest.

This 5f Group 2 sprint contest was first run at Goodwood in 1911 and now offers in excess of £300,000 in total prize money. It’s a “blink and you miss it” affair for the speedballs and often provides horses for the Nunthorpe Stakes at York’s Ebor Festival.

Whether you fancy a bet on this or not, why not check out our Goodwood offers post? If it’s tips you’re after, check out our preview of the Golden Mile or Stewards’ Cup tips and offers?

King George Stakes Tips, 3:35 at Goodwood, 2nd August 2019

Glorious Goodwood is a very well renowned meeting but Goodwood is known for more than just horse racing. The Goodwood Festival of Speed and several events at Goodwood Motor Circuit bring those with a keen interest in speed to the outskirts of Chichester. Those with who love their sport fast and furious will be equally enthralled by the King George Stakes, a Group 2 which always attracts high calibre sprinters.

Battaash to Thrive at Goodwood Again

The first running of the King George Stakes took place in 1911. In that time, eight horses have won the race twice but none has thus far completed the hat-trick. That puts the feat that Battaash, who won each of the last two renewals, is attempting into perspective.

Battaash has proven to be a very good horse for all those connected to him. The five-year-old has competed well in some of the biggest sprints around, picking up many handsome cheques. The main thing that’s stopped him from being a really top class sprinter over the years is the way he gets worked up before a race.

Charlie Hills has described Battaash as a nervy horse. He regularly gets too worked up before a contest but seems to have no problem whatsoever at Goodwood. Nobody is quite sure why he comes alive at this track but there is no doubt that he does.

Time For Sergei Prokofiev to Stand Up

Sergei Prokofiev was kept busier than most two-year-olds last season. It appeared Ballydoyle were hopeful they had something special on their hands and wanted to get him plenty of experience before the big races in the following season.

That experience included a run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. His trip to America didn’t go to plan and nor has much this season. He remains a little headstrong and, like Battaash, is prone to getting worked up before the off. However, there remains something about him. Experience is aiding his cause and it may not be long before we see the best of him.

Aidan O’Brien has settled on 5 furlongs being the optimum distance for Sergei Prokofiev. He is able to run relatively freely and try to make the most of the incredible pace he possesses. Beating Battaash is a big ask but Sergei Prokofiev has the raw talent to be the best of the rest.

Betting Predictions

Anything other than a Battaash win in Friday’s feature race would be a surprise. His small frame is very well suited to the undulations of the Goodwood track and for some reason he just doesn’t get as nervous in West Sussex as at other courses. The question, however, is whether he represents genuine value at a best price of 1/3 with BetVictor.

If there were no other horse in the race worth support, it would probably be best to sit back and watch Battaash do his business. As it is, complementing a straight win bet on the favourite with an each way play on Sergei Prokofiev at 12/1 with Paddy Power could return nicely from the King George.

Previous Winners

  • 2018 – Battaash – jockey Jim Crowley, trainer Charlie Hills
  • 2017 – Battaash – jockey Jim Crowley, trainer Charlie Hills
  • 2016 – Take Cover – jockey David Allan, trainer David Griffiths
  • 2015 – Muthmir – jockey Paul Hanagan, trainer William Haggas
  • 2014 – Take Cover – jockey Andrea Atzeni, trainer David Griffiths
  • 2013 – Moviesta – jockey Paul Mulrennan, trainer Bryan Smart
  • 2012 – Ortensia – jockey William Buick, trainer Paul Messara
  • 2011 – Masamah – jockey Jamie Spencer, trainer Kevin Ryan
  • 2010 – Borderlescott – jockey Kieren Fallon, trainer Robin Bastiman
  • 2009 – Kingsgate Native – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Sir Michael Stoute
  • 2008 – Enticing – jockey Johnny Murtagh, trainer William Haggas
  • 2007 – Moorhouse Lad – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Bryan Smart
  • 2006 – La Cucaracha – jockey Michael Hills, trainer Barry Hills

King George Stakes History and Top Trainers/Jockeys

The King George of this race’s title is King George V, with Goodwood having first introduced this race in his Coronation year of 1911. This race has always been one for the speedballs, with its 5f distance remaining unchanged over the years.

Having initially been classified as a Group 3 contest with the introduction of race grades in 1971, the race was finally raised to Group 2 status in 2010. It may be below the season’s other major domestic 5f contests, namely the Kings Stand Stakes and Nunthorpe Stakes, when it comes to the grading of the race, but it more than holds its own when it comes to prize money. The race benefited in this area when Qatar sponsored the Glorious Goodwood Festival for the first time in 2015.

Jockeys and Trainers

Lester Piggott boasts the best record among the jockeys. First winning aboard Right Boy in 1958, he quickly followed up on the same horse in 1959 and won this prize an amazing nine times in all throughout his illustrious career.

When we consider that the combined totals of the two leading trainers in the history of this race is still less than the number achieved by Lester Piggott, we start to get a sense of what a truly remarkable jockey the long fellow was. Jack Jarvis and Paddy Prendergast are the men who lead the way amongst the handlers with four wins apiece.

Tetratema became the first horse to win this race twice when taking the prize in 1920 and 1921. Six other runners have since recorded two wins including Abernant, who is considered by many to have been the best sprinter of the 20th century, and the flying filly Lochsong who dominated the sprint division in the early 1990s. Battaash won it for Charles Hills in 2017 and 2018.