London
The John Gosden-trained super mare Enable won a record-breaking third King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
With only two other runners, both trained by Aidan O’Brien, standing between her and racing history the odds-on favourite won in a canter ridden by Frankie Dettori.
“She’s unbelievable,” Dettori, his voice cracking with emotion, told ITV after Enable had swept past front runner Sovereign to claim English flat racing’s all-aged showcase.
“She’s a six-year-old, and John’s done a great job to keep her going. “I love her so much, she’s my favourite girl!” added the Italian, who returned to a winner’s enclosure of only a handful of people with a coronavirus-enforced crowd ban still in place.
Any fears the Enable camp may have had of this turning into a tactical race with the O’Brien duo – it was supposed to be a trio but the Irish trainer pulled out Anthony Van Dyck – trying to tactically outmanoeuvre her proved groundless.
With just three horses in the race, Sovereign established a quick lead with Japan at the rear but once Dettori chose his moment Enable put the 2020 edition to bed to add to her wins in 2017 and 2019.
“She really trained beautifully for this race, her last race put her right. I told Frankie to ride her with confidence,” said Gosden.
“She’s quite some racemare,” added the trainer who said whilst he had been expecting her to win added the caveat that “life can be full of disappointments”.—APP
