LONDON: Legendary trainer Michael Stoute won a record sixth King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday with Poet’s Word on the same track where a month ago he became the most successful ever trainer at Royal Ascot.
The 72-year-old Barbados-born handler — whose first winner of the race was the tragic Shergar in 1981 — was spoilt for choice as James Doyle, on Poet’s Word, battled past his other runner, the 6/4 favorite Crystal Ocean, for a superb 1-2.
“Two wonderful brave athletes,” said Stoute.
“My first reaction is sorry for the one that got beat.”
In typical humble fashion Stoute — who had said when he broke the Royal Ascot record that his great friend the late Henry Cecil had had less five-day meetings to set his original mark of 75 — swept aside the import of his new benchmark.
“It took a long time didn’t it!” he said.
Poet’s Word — who landed his owner Saeed Sulalil a winner’s cheque of just over £700,000 ($917,000, 787,000 euros) — gave Stoute his third Group One success of the season and the horse’s second successive top grade victory, having laid low Cracksman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Cracksman had not re-opposed in the King George as trainer John Gosden withdrew him on the morning of the race judging the ground not to have softened sufficiently for his stable ace to run.
Doyle rode a blinder having allowed his mount to hang out toward the back of the seven-runner field, tracking Gosden’s lone runner Coronet whilst William Buick on Crystal Ocean was closer up behind the pacemaking duo of Salouen and Rostropovich.
Doyle, though, then swept round the outside as they hit the straight, and although he took a few seconds to move into full gear, then ate up the ground between him and his stablemate before finally getting the better of him inside the final furlong.
Buick sportingly shook his close friend Doyle’s hand as they pulled up and also handled being wrongly announced as the winning jockey when they entered the unsaddling enclosure in good heart too.
For Doyle there was unconfined joy.
“You’ll be doing well if there is a happier fellow today,” he said.
“He is so versatile, I was a little worried following Coronet and I thought I had left him a bit of a task.
“Everything though about him is really smooth.”
Smooth is not the adjective one would ascribe to the performances of the horses of another record-breaking trainer Aidan O’Brien at the moment.
His favored runner in the King George, Hydrangea — who had seemed to be free of a bug affecting O’Brien’s yard — never moved up a gear and instead went into reverse and finished last of the septet.
Sir Michael Stoute has last word in record King George success with Poet’s Word
Sir Michael Stoute has last word in record King George success with Poet’s Word
Carlos Alcaraz joins other tennis stars in first-ever tennis event at Marlins’ loanDepot Park
- It was a one-time event — the first time tennis has ever been played at loanDepot Park — and also featured rising Brazilian standout Joao Fonseca and women’s stars Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula
- Alcaraz: I’m having a lot of fun. Getting the energy from the people, playing in some places that we are not used to. It’s exciting
MIAMI: Carlos Alcaraz wanted to play in front of an energetic crowd at the inaugural Miami Invitational.
The No. 1 men’s tennis player got his wish, drawing a roar of applause when he stepped onto the court and electric cheers throughout an exhibition event Monday night at loanDepot Park, the home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins.
It was a one-time event — the first time tennis has ever been played at loanDepot Park — and also featured rising Brazilian standout Joao Fonseca and women’s stars Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula.
Alcaraz defeated the 24th-ranked Fonseca 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 in a thrilling singles match, their first time facing each other. Anisimova topped Pegula 6-2, 7-5 earlier in the night. Alcaraz and Pegula also beat Anisimova and Fonseca in a mixed doubles 10-point tie breaker.
“I just expect that the people are going to get entertained by watching us play,” Alcaraz said before the match. “I think it’s unusual watching us play in these kinds of stadiums and court. I’m really excited about playing here with Joao. I’m just excited to see how people are going to respond.”
The 22-year-old Alcaraz recently wrapped up the 2025 season, ending the campaign with the ATP’s year-end No. 1 ranking, tour-highs of 71 match wins and eight trophies and a pair of Grand Slam titles that lifted his career total to six.
He’s still been busy during the exhibition season, which also included an exhibition event in Newark, New Jersey, on Sunday in which Alcaraz played a singles match against two-time US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” Alcaraz said. “Getting the energy from the people, playing in some places that we are not used to. It’s exciting. It’s been great so far, and I’m enjoying it a lot.”
The crowd Monday included Inter Miami stars Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, who became MLS champions just a couple days ago in the final match of their decorated careers.
Anisimova, a US Open and Wimbledon finalist this year, and Pegula, who reached the US Open semis, both noted that Monday’s exhibition was a great way to prepare for the upcoming season in a new environment.
“I think we love playing tennis and we love competing,” Pegula said. “Being able to change what that looks like a little bit where it’s not something we do 95 percent of the year is always really nice and refreshing for us. I think it’s great for the sport. It gives it a diff look for the fans, for everyone that’s involved. For players, it kind of keeps us refreshed and kind of brings you back to why you’re playing.”
