Sport : Horse Racing

Moon can make giant leap

20th July 2012, 05:16pm

Sea Moon: Another winner from the Hardwicke Stakes?

We analyse the last 10 renewals of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday and pick out the key statistics.

Four year olds have won eight of the last 10 renewals.

Favourites have won six of the last 10 renewals.

Sir Michael Stoute (3) and Aidan O'Brien (2) have trained five of the last 10 winners.

Seven of the last eight winners to have previously contested a Group One had been successful in that grade (Harbinger and Nathaniel were having their first G1 runs).

Eight of the last 10 winners had won over the distance - the other two were trying the trip for the first time.

Seven of the last 10 winners had finished in the first two in a Group One over the distance.

Summary

A good race for favourites and a good race for Sir Michael Stoute who joined Major Dick Hern and Saeed bin Suroor in training five winners of this race with Harbinger's victory.

As befits a race that has been won by trainers from three countries in the past decade, winners have taken a variety of routes on course to victory here with the Hardwicke, King Edward VII, Grand Prix de Saint Cloud and Prince Of Wales's Stakes among those contested prior to lining up at Ascot.

Seven renewals since the contest's inception have gone to runners aged five or older but surely more pertinent to the chances of last year's third, St Nicholas Abbey, is whether you believe that he is truly showing his connections the precocious brilliance of his juvenile season.

Sea Moon finished second to him in the Grade One Breeders' Cup Turf over 12 furlongs (neither of the last two winners had previously won a Group One) and, with his trainer's good record in the race and the Hardwicke Stakes having thrown up a couple of recent winners, he is marginally preferred to Nathaniel who would become only the third horse in the history of the race to win back-to-back renewals.