PAPO DE BOTEQUIM. SIM SOU UMA MACACA DE AUDITÓRIO DO KING GEORGE

Fui acusado de ser uma macaca de auditório do King George. Quem assim o fez, não está totalmente destituído de veracidade.  Pois, na realidade, é a carreira, juntamente com o Arco quem mais gostaria de ter ganho. Aliás o simples ato de ganhar - qualquer que seja o nivele de competição me deixa nas nuvens - já me ilumina o espírito. Imaginem estas duas carreiras ?

O King George, é o que é, pela lista de grandes cavalos que o ganhou. Disputado em Ascot, é um confronto de idades. Maisprecisamente entre 4 e 3 anos, na sua grande maioria das vezes.

 Observem as peculiaridades que acompanham esta corrida desde a sua primeira disputa, levada a efeito em 21 de Julho de 1951, e ganha naquela oportunidade por Supreme Court. Querem uma resumo das coisas ? Aqui vai um, bem explicadinho...

History

The event was formed as the result of an amalgamation of two separate races at Ascot which were established in 1946 and 1948.^[2] The first of these, named after King George VI, was a 2-mile contest for three-year-olds held in October. The second, in honour of his wife, Queen Elizabeth, was a one and a half-mile event staged in July. The idea was conceived by Major John Crocker Bulteel, the Clerk of the Course at Ascot, who wanted to create an important international race over one and a half miles for horses aged three or older. The inaugural running of the combined race took place on 21 July 1951. In its first year, to commemorate the Festival of Britain, it was titled the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Festival of Britain Stakes.

During the early part of its history the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes was not commercially sponsored. Its first period of sponsorship started in 1972, when it began a long association with the diamond company De Beers. The word "Diamond" was added to the race's title when permission for its inclusion was given by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975. It became known as the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, and De Beers continued to back the event until 2006.

The online betting company Betfair started to sponsor the King George in 2009,^[3] and its prize fund was increased from £750,000 to £1,500,000 in 2024 and from 2026, £2,000,000. From 2026, it will be Britain's joint richest horse race, alongside The Derby.^[4][5]

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes became part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2011. The winner now earns an automatic invitation to compete in the same year's Breeders' Cup Turf.^[6]

Records

Most successful horse (3 wins):

• Enable – 2017, 2019, 2020

Leading jockey (7 wins):

• Lester Piggott – Meadow Court (1965), Aunt Edith (1966), Park Top (1969), Nijinsky (1970), Dahlia (1974), The Minstrel (1977), Teenoso (1984)
• Frankie Dettori – Lammtarra (1995), Swain (1998), Daylami (1999), Doyen (2004), Enable (2017, 2019, 2020)

Leading trainer (6 wins):

• Sir Michael Stoute – Shergar (1981), Opera House (1993), Golan (2002), Conduit (2009), Harbinger (2010), Poet's Word (2018)

Leading owner (6 wins): (includes part ownership)

• Michael Tabor – Montjeu (2000), Galileo (2001), Hurricane Run (2006), Dylan Thomas (2007), Duke of Marmalade (2008), Highland Reel (2016)

Fastest winning time:

• Novellist (2013) – 2m 24.60s

Widest winning margin:

• Harbinger (2010) – 11 lengths

Este resumo simplesmente determina a fronteira do que seja um cavalo apenas bem sucedido, de alguém que realmente merece estar no patamar mais alto da atividade. 

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1951	Supreme Court	3	Charlie Elliott	Evan Williams	Vera Lilley	2:29.40
1952	Tulyar	3	Charlie Smirke	Marcus Marsh	HH Aga Khan III	2:33.00
1953	Pinza	3	Sir Gordon Richards	Norman Bertie	Sir Victor Sassoon	2:34.00
1954	Aureole	4	Eph Smith	Cecil Boyd-Rochfort	Queen Elizabeth II	2:44.00
1955	Vimy	3	Roger Poincelet	Alec Head	Pierre Wertheimer	2:33.76
1956	Ribot	4	Enrico Camici	Ugo Penco	Mario della Rocchetta	2:40.24
1957	Montaval	4	Freddie Palmer	Georges Bridgland	Ralph B. Strassburger	2:41.02
1958	Ballymoss	4	Scobie Breasley	Vincent O'Brien	John McShain	2:36.33
1959	Alcide	4	Harry Carr	Cecil Boyd-Rochfort	Sir Humphrey de Trafford	2:31.39
1960	Aggressor	5	Jimmy Lindley	Towser Gosden	Sir Harold Wernher	2:35.21
1961	Right Royal	3	Roger Poincelet	Etienne Pollet	Elisabeth Couturié	2:40.34
1962	Match	4	Yves Saint-Martin	François Mathet	François Dupré	2:32.02
1963	Ragusa	3	Garnie Bougoure	Paddy Prendergast	Jim Mullion	2:33.80
1964	Nasram	4	Bill Pyers	Ernie Fellows	Mrs Howell Jackson	2:33.15
1965	Meadow Court	3	Lester Piggott	Paddy Prendergast	Bell / McMahon / Crosby	2:33.27
1966	Aunt Edith	4	Lester Piggott	Noel Murless	John Hornung	2:35.06
1967	Busted	4	George Moore	Noel Murless	Stanhope Joel	2:33.64
1968	Royal Palace	4	Sandy Barclay	Noel Murless	Jim Joel	2:33.22
1969	Park Top	5	Lester Piggott	Bernard van Cutsem	11th Duke of Devonshire	2:32.46
1970	Nijinsky	3	Lester Piggott	Vincent O'Brien	Charles Engelhard	2:36.16
1971	Mill Reef	3	Geoff Lewis	Ian Balding	Paul Mellon	2:32.56
1972	Brigadier Gerard	4	Joe Mercer	Dick Hern	Jean Hislop	2:32.91
1973	Dahlia	3	Bill Pyers	Maurice Zilber	Nelson Bunker Hunt	2:30.43
1974	Dahlia	4	Lester Piggott	Maurice Zilber	Nelson Bunker Hunt	2:33.03
1975	Grundy	3	Pat Eddery	Peter Walwyn	Carlo Vittadini	2:26.98
1976	Pawneese	3	Yves Saint-Martin	Angel Penna Sr.	Daniel Wildenstein	2:29.36
1977	The Minstrel	3	Lester Piggott	Vincent O'Brien	Robert Sangster	2:30.48
1978	Ile de Bourbon	3	John Reid	Fulke Johnson Houghton	David McCall	2:30.53
1979	Troy	3	Willie Carson	Dick Hern	Sobell / Weinstock	2:33.75
1980	Ela-Mana-Mou	4	Willie Carson	Dick Hern	Simon Weinstock	2:35.39
1981	Shergar	3	Walter Swinburn	Michael Stoute	HH Aga Khan IV	2:35.40
1982	Kalaglow	4	Greville Starkey	Guy Harwood	Tony Ward	2:31.88
1983	Time Charter	4	Joe Mercer	Henry Candy	Robert Barnett	2:30.79
1984	Teenoso	4	Lester Piggott	Geoff Wragg	Eric Moller	2:27.95
1985	Petoski	3	Willie Carson	Dick Hern	Lady Beaverbrook	2:27.61
1986	Dancing Brave	3	Pat Eddery	Guy Harwood	Khalid Abdullah	2:29.49
1987	Reference Point	3	Steve Cauthen	Henry Cecil	Louis Freedman	2:34.63
1988	Mtoto	5	Michael Roberts	Alec Stewart	Ahmed Al Maktoum	2:37.33
1989	Nashwan	3	Willie Carson	Dick Hern	Hamdan Al Maktoum	2:32.27
1990	Belmez	3	Michael Kinane	Henry Cecil	Sheikh Mohammed	2:30.76
1991	Generous	3	Alan Munro	Paul Cole	Prince Fahd bin Salman	2:28.99
1992	St Jovite	3	Stephen Craine	Jim Bolger	Virginia Kraft Payson	2:30.85
1993	Opera House	5	Michael Roberts	Michael Stoute	Sheikh Mohammed	2:33.94
1994	King's Theatre	3	Michael Kinane	Henry Cecil	Sheikh Moh'd / Poland [7]	2:28.92
1995	Lammtarra	3	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Saeed bin M. Al Maktoum	2:31.01
1996	Pentire	4	Michael Hills	Geoff Wragg	Mollers Racing	2:28.11
1997	Swain	5	John Reid	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	2:36.45
1998	Swain	6	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	2:29.06
1999	Daylami	5	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	2:29.35
2000	Montjeu	4	Michael Kinane	John Hammond	Michael Tabor	2:29.98
2001	Galileo	3	Michael Kinane	Aidan O'Brien	Magnier / Tabor	2:27.71
2002	Golan	4	Kieren Fallon	Sir Michael Stoute	Exors of Lord Weinstock	2:29.70
2003	Alamshar	3	Johnny Murtagh	John Oxx	HH Aga Khan IV	2:33.26
2004	Doyen	4	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	2:33.18
2005	Azamour [a]	4	Michael Kinane	John Oxx	HH Aga Khan IV	2:28.26
2006	Hurricane Run	4	Christophe Soumillon	André Fabre	Michael Tabor	2:30.29
2007	Dylan Thomas	4	Johnny Murtagh	Aidan O'Brien	Magnier / Tabor	2:31.11
2008	Duke of Marmalade	4	Johnny Murtagh	Aidan O'Brien	Magnier / Tabor	2:27.91
2009	Conduit	4	Ryan Moore	Sir Michael Stoute	Ballymacoll Stud	2:28.73
2010	Harbinger	4	Olivier Peslier	Sir Michael Stoute	Highclere "Admiral Rous"	2:26.78
2011	Nathaniel	3	William Buick	John Gosden	Lady Rothschild	2:35.07
2012	Danedream	4	Andrasch Starke	Peter Schiergen	Burg Eberstein / Yoshida	2:31.62
2013	Novellist	4	Johnny Murtagh	Andreas Wohler	Christoph Berglar	2:24.60
2014	Taghrooda	3	Paul Hanagan	John Gosden	Hamdan Al Maktoum	2:28.13
2015	Postponed	4	Andrea Atzeni	Luca Cumani	Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum	2:31.25
2016	Highland Reel	4	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	Magnier / Tabor/ Smith	2:28.97
2017	Enable	3	Frankie Dettori	John Gosden	Khalid Abdullah	2:36.22
2018	Poet's Word	5	James Doyle	Sir Michael Stoute	Saeed Suhail	2:25.84
2019	Enable	5	Frankie Dettori	John Gosden	Khalid Abdullah	2:32.42
2020	Enable	6	Frankie Dettori	John Gosden	Khalid Abdullah	2:28.92
2021	Adayar	3	William Buick	Charlie Appleby	Godolphin	2:26.54
2022	Pyledriver	5	P. J. McDonald	William Muir & Chris Grassick	La Pyle Partnership	2:29.49
2023	Hukum	6	Jim Crowley	Owen Burrows	Shadwell Racing	2:33.95
2024	Goliath	4	Christophe Soumillon	Francis-Henri Graffard	Philip Baron Von Ullmann	2:27.43
2025	Calandagan	4	Mickael Barzalona	Francis-Henri Graffard	Aga Khan Studs	2:29.74
2026	Kalpana	5	Colin Keane	Andrew Balding	Juddmonte	2:27.72

Em sua opinião, quantos outsiders desta carreira podem ter chegado a vitória ? Cinco, dez, vinte no máximo, para um período de disputa de 75 anos é simplesmente um nada. Apenas três elementos em sua história o venceram com seis anos de idade, Enable em sua terceira vitória e Swain em sua segunda. Ambos vieram a correr Breedeer´s Cups do outros lado Atlântico com brilho, um inclusive no dirt. Em outras palavras, elementos do mais alto padrão de carreira.

Sim aceito a pecha: sou confesso uma macaca de auditório do King George. E quem acha isto ridículo que vá para o inferno !