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
Mickael Barzalona claims a treble on Saudi Cup opening day
- The French jockey secures the International Jockeys Challenge crown with two victories in the series, as well as success in the Saudi International Handicap
RIYADH: Mickael Barzalona emerged as the standout performer on the opening day of the 2026 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh on Friday, securing three victories and the International Jockeys Challenge title.
And with the majority of victorious trainers on opening day hailing from Saudi Arabia, the depth of local expertise in the Kingdom was on full display.
The action began with the Fillies Mile, in which Nawaf Almudiani guided Teduom to a $125,000 victory, beating Tobah by 1¾ lengths.
The prize money increased as the day progressed, with each of the four International Jockeys Challenge races awarding $200,000 to the winner.
Hay Nebaha, ridden by Saffie Osborne and trained by Bader Rizaiq for King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Sons, claimed Race 1 of the 0-95 contest over 1,600 meters in 1:39.728, defeating the higher-rated Saebout by 4¾ lengths.
Race 2 went to Abeyyah, who edged Makthorh by half a length in 1:26.81 under jockey Nina Baltromei, marking second consecutive victory for trainer Rizaiq in the series.
Barzalona began his surge in Race 3 of the Challenge series aboard Praetorian, delivering a six-length triumph in 1:09.719 for trainer Ahmed Abdulwahed and owner Abdulelah Abdulaziz Almousa, which would be the widest winning margin of the series.
The French jockey then clinched the International Jockeys Challenge championship in Race 4, guiding Year Of The Dragon to victory by a neck in 2:10.043 for trainer Mohammed Alhirabi and Arab stable.
Barzalona added his third victory of the day in the Saudi International Handicap (90-110) Presented by Lucid, as he steered Gran Descans to a three-quarter-length win for trainer Saad Aljenade, landing King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and Sons the $300,000 prize.
Other highlights included a Sarawat Cup victory for Almad’agi in 1:13.67 under Adel Alfouraidi, as trainer Abdulwahed and owner Almousa claimed their second win of the evening.
The day concluded with RB Kingmaker taking the $900,000 Al-Mneefah Cup by half a length for jockey Cristian Demuro and trainers Helal and Tahnon Al-Alawi.
Faisal Sultan, the president of Electric vehicle maker Lucid Middle East, welcomed his company’s partnership with the Saudi Cup.
“This is the right place to be,” he said. “The Saudi Cup has the right clientele, the right atmosphere, and positivity that aligns with our products.”
As he presented the Saudi International Handicap trophy to Gran Descans, Sultan highlighted the factors that make Lucid a perfect partner for horse racing: “We have one of the fastest-charging vehicles in the world and one of the fastest vehicles in the world. Lucid and horse racing — it’s a match made in heaven.”
Sultan added that the “Made in Saudi” designation awarded to Lucid in January last year reflected the company’s sense of national pride.
“We are highly dependent on Saudi talent and continue to train and expand that presence,” he said. “We aim to support sustainable initiatives and contribute towards Vision 2030.”
Racing continues on Saturday, with the event culminating in feature race the $20 million Saudi Cup at 8:40pm.
