King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes | |
Location | Ascot Racecourse |
---|---|
Date | 26 July 1997 |
Winning horse | Swain (IRE) |
Jockey | John Reid |
Trainer | Saeed bin Suroor (GB) |
Owner | Godolphin |
The 1997 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes was a horse race held at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 26 July 1997. It was the 47th running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The winner was Godolphin's Swain, a five-year-old bay horse trained at Newmarket, Suffolk by Saeed bin Suroor and ridden by John Reid. Swain's victory was the second in the race for bin Suroor and the first Godolphin. In addition, Godolphin's leader Sheikh Mohammed, had won the race with Belmez (1990), Opera House (1993) and King's Theatre (1994). Reid was winning the second time after riding Ile de Bourbon to victory in 1978.
The race attracted a field of eight runners: seven from the United Kingdom, and one from France. The favourite for the race was the French-trained Helissio who had been named European Horse of the Year in 1996 when his wins included the Prix Lupin, Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In his first two starts of 1997, Helissio had won the Prix Ganay and a second Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Michael Stoute's Newmarket stable were represented by two five-year-old horses who had achieved significant international success: Singspiel had won the Canadian International Stakes, Japan Cup, Dubai World Cup and Coronation Cup whilst Pilsudski had claimed victories in the Grosser Preis von Baden, Breeders' Cup Turf and Eclipse Stakes. Swain was the representative of the Godolphin stable: originally trained in France, he had finished third in the 1995 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and won the Coronation Cup in 1996. The other runners were Kingfisher Mill (King Edward VII Stakes), Predappio Hardwicke Stakes, Shantou (St Leger Stakes, Gran Premio del Jockey Club) and Strategic Choice (Irish St Leger, Gran Premio di Milano). Helissio headed the betting at odds of 11/10 ahead of Singspiel (4/1), Pilsudski (6/1) and Kingfisher Mill. Swain started at odds of 16/1.
The race was run on soft ground in wet and misty conditions. Helissio took the lead at the start but was headed by Kingfisher Mill, before regaining the advantage five furlongs from the finish. Helissio led the field into the straight, pursued by Swain, Pilsudski and Singspiel. Swain moved into the lead two furlongs from the finish but was challenged by Pilsudski and Singspiel on the outside, whilst Helissio stayed on along the rail. In the closing stages Swain was driven out by Reid to win by a length from Pilsudski with Helissio a lengths and a quarter back in third and Singspiel weakening into fourth place. Shantou finished next ahead of Strategic Choice, Predappio and the injured Kingfisher Mill. [1]
Pos. | Marg. | Horse (bred) | Age | Jockey | Trainer (Country) | Odds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Swain (IRE) | 5 | John Reid | Saeed bin Suroor (GB) | 16/1 | |
2 | 1 | Pilsudski (IRE) | 5 | Mick Kinane | Michael Stoute (GB) | 6/1 |
3 | 1¼ | Helissio (FR) | 4 | Cash Asmussen | Élie Lellouche (FR) | 11/10 fav |
4 | 2½ | Singspiel (IRE) | 5 | Frankie Dettori | Michael Stoute (GB) | 4/1 |
5 | 4 | Shantou (USA) | 4 | Gary Hind | John Gosden (GB) | 16/1 |
6 | 5 | Strategic Choice (USA) | 6 | Ray Cochrane | Paul Cole (GB) | 66/1 |
7 | 3 | Predappio (GB) | 4 | Gary Stevens | Saeed bin Suroor (GB) | 12/1 |
8 | 13 | Kingfisher Mill (USA) | 3 | Pat Eddery | Julie Cecil (GB) | 8/1 |
Further details of the winner, Swain
Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, is an Italian jockey who was based in England for a career spanning over 35 years. He was British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and rode the winners of 287 Group 1 races including 23 winners of the British Classic Races. His most celebrated achievement was riding all seven winners on British Festival of Racing Day at Ascot Racecourse on 28 September 1996.
Daylami was a Thoroughbred Champion racehorse and sire who was bred in Ireland, but trained in France, Dubai and the United Kingdom. In a career which lasted from 1996 until 1999, he raced in five different countries and won seven Group 1/Grade I races. His 1999 performances earned him the United States' Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse and the Cartier Racing Award for European Horse of the Year.
Pilsudski is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a four-season career from 1994 to 1997, he progressed from winning modest group races to be regarded as one of the best racehorses in the world. He won eleven races in five different countries, six of them at Group One level. He also finished second in successive runnings of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Singspiel was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for a series of wins in major international races in 1996 and 1997. In a racing career which lasted from September 1994 until August 1997 he won nine of his twenty races and finished second on eight occasions. After showing good, but unexceptional form in his first two seasons he emerged as a world class performer in 1996 when he won the Canadian International Stakes and Japan Cup and was named U.S. Champion Male Turf Horse. In the following season he added victories in the Dubai World Cup, Coronation Cup and International Stakes before his career was ended by injury. After his retirement from racing he had considerable success as a sire of winners before his death in 2010.
John Andrew Reid is a retired flat race jockey.
Fantastic Light is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and pensioned sire. He was foaled in the United States but was trained in England and Dubai during his racing career, which ran from August 1998 to his retirement following the Breeders' Cup Turf in October 2001. He raced in seven countries, winning Group One/Grade I races in five of them and was a dual winner of the Emirates World Series Racing Championship. He was named United States Champion Male Turf Horse, European Horse of the Year and European Champion Older Horse in 2001. He was also well known for his two races against the 2001 Epsom Derby winner Galileo. In August 2012 it was announced that he had been pensioned from stallion duty while in Japan and would return to Dalham Hall in England to live out his days as a pensioner.
Shaamit (1993–2001) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred race horse and sire. In a career which lasted from September 1995 to October 1996, he ran six times and won twice. He was the winner of the Epsom Derby in 1996. He was retired to stud at the end of his three-year-old season where he had limited success. He died in 2001.
Swain was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He is one of only three horses to win two editions of Britain's premier weight-for-age race, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Marienbard was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his win in the 2002 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Shantou was a classic-winning Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a three-year-old in 1996 he won the St. Leger and the Gran Premio del Jockey Club as well as finishing third in the Epsom Derby and fourth in the Breeders' Cup Turf. In the following year he won the Gran Premio di Milano and the Princess of Wales's Stakes. After his retirement from racing he had success as a sire of National Hunt horses.
Doyen is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse, who was bred in Ireland but trained in France, Dubai and the United Kingdom during a racing career which lasted from 2002 to 2005. He is best known for winning the 2004 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Nedawi, is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. In a career that lasted from June 1998 until July 1999, he ran seven times and won three races. He recorded his most important success by winning the Classic St. Leger Stakes as a three-year-old in 1998, the same year that he won the Gordon Stakes. In the following season he finished second in the Dubai Turf Classic and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes before being retired to stud.
Classic Cliche, was a Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was bred in Ireland and trained in Britain and the United Arab Emirates. In a career which lasted from August 1994 until September 1997, he ran sixteen times and won six races. He recorded his most important success when winning the Classic St. Leger Stakes as a three-year-old in 1995, the same year in which he won the Dante Stakes. In the following season he became the first Classic winner in fifty years to win the Ascot Gold Cup.
The 2004 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes was a horse race held at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 24 July 2004. It was the 54th King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The 1999 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes was a horse race held at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 24 July 1999. It was the 49th running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The 1998 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes was a horse race held at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 25 July 1998. It was the 48th running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Papineau was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. Unraced as a juvenile, he showed promise as a three-year-old in France, winning two races including the Prix de l'Avre. As a four-year-old, he was campaigned in England and was unbeaten in three starts. After winning a minor race on his seasonal debut he won a strongly-contested edition of the Henry II Stakes and then recorded his biggest success in the Ascot Gold Cup. He made two appearances as a five-year-old but failed to recover his best form.
Pure Grain was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. In 1994 she won two of her five races including the Prestige Stakes as well as finishing third in the Princess Margaret Stakes and fourth when favourite for the Fillies' Mile. In the following year she emerged as one of the best middle distance fillies of her generation in Europe with wins in the Musidora Stakes, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. She also finished third in The Oaks and fifth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. After her retirement from racing she had some success as a dam of winners.
Strategic Choice was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion. In a racing career which lasted from April 1994 until July 2000 he competed in nine different countries – Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Turkey, Canada and Hong Kong – and won six of his thirty-four races. Unraced as a two-year-old he won the John Porter Stakes and Irish St. Leger at four, the Gran Premio di Milano and Grand Prix de Deauville at five and the Bosphorus Trophy at six. He was also placed in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Gran Premio del Jockey Club, Yorkshire Cup and St Simon Stakes. After his retirement from racing he had some success as a sire of National Hunt racing.
Oscar Schindler was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion best known for being the second horse to win two runnings of the Irish St. Leger. In a racing career which lasted from October 1994 until November 1997 he competed in five different countries and won five of his twenty starts.