Adayar completes double with King George triumph
The Derby, run at 1 1/2 miles over the highly irregular course at Epsom Downs, can throw up strange results. We have seen a number of recent winners – Serpentine in 2020 and Wings of Eagles in 2017 leap to mind – who were very good on the day, less so during the remainder of their career.
Adayar won the 2021 Derby on June 5 as a 16-1 shot, coming into the race as Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby’s presumed second string behind Hurricane Lane, but romping by more than four lengths in his first Group stakes win, as Hurricane Lane finished third. Adayar, in other words, still had something to prove after his Derby – and did he ever Saturday at Ascot in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Adayar became the first horse to pull the Derby and King George double in the same year since the recently deceased Galileo in 2001, and he did so with authority. Taking command of the 1 1/2-mile fixture from pacesetting Broome with a little more than a quarter-mile to run, Adayar flicked away a challenge from multiple Group 1 winner Mishriff and powered home a 1 3/4-length winner.
Mishriff charged from last and, coming outside, put Love, who had tracked the leaders, in a tight spot with a couple furlongs remaining. Mishriff got nearly on terms with Adayar, but the 3-year-old, getting 11 pounds from 4-year-old Mishriff under the race’s weight-for-age conditions, turned him away and won clear.
Mishriff, who had captured the $20 million Saudi Cup over 1 1/8 miles on dirt and the Sheema Classic over 1 1/2 miles on turf earlier this year, ran well in defeat, especially considering the weights, and likely cuts back to 1 1/4 miles next out in the Irish Champion stakes.
But the race was somewhat disappointing for Love, who lost for the first time since 2019 with no apparent excuse. Love got the firmer footing she needs on Saturday and settled into a nice rhythm under Ryan Moore after racing slightly too aggressively in the early stages. But even after Mishriff had gone past and Love raced in the clear, she failed to display the same brilliance that she demonstrated as a 3-year-old of 2020.
Broome faded to fourth and Eagle Mountain, a close second in the Irish Derby and third choice in the King George, could do nothing with good early position and finished last. Wonderful Tonight was an early scratch.
Winning time over good-to-firm going was a quick 2:26.54. Adayar, a homebred, is by Frankel out of Anna Salai, by Dubawi.
Appleby, stuck at home because of COVID-10 quarantine protocols, suggested that Adayar could target the Prix Niel in advance of a run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The King George is part of the Breeders’ Cup challenge series, offering the winner automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Turf and travel expenses to Del Mar this fall.
Appleby and Godolphin will keep Adayar and Hurricane Lane separated until the Arc. Hurricane Lane came back from his third at Epsom to win the Irish Derby and score an impressive victory in the Grand Prix de Paris last week. With him and Adayer, Godolphin and Appleby appear to have the two best 3-year-olds in Europe.