Electrocutionist holds fitness edge

Electrocutionist can take advantage of a Hurricane Run who may not be in top form and a Heart's Cry who has not run in four months and win the $1.38 million King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.

The Dubai World Cup winner, Electrocutionist was declared by Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford on Thursday to be back in the same form that won him the world's richest race. A 5-year-old son of Red Ransom, Electrocutionist has since run a game second to Ouija Board, beaten a half-length, in the 1 1/4-mile Prince of Wales's Stakes, an effort which bodes well for his chances because it came on the same good to firm course as the 1 1/2-mile King George. Frankie Dettori will ride, as Godolphin seeks its sixth win since 1995 in England's midsummer feature.

The issue, however, is far from clear cut. Hurricane Run, last year's Arc de Triomphe winner and European champion, has failed to impress in two starts this season, winning the three-horse Tattersalls Gold Cup, then failing to hold a clear lead in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud when caught near the finish line by the accomplished mare Pride.

Christophe Soumillon, taken off Hurricane Run after his second-place finish in last year's French Derby, will be back aboard the Andre Fabre-trained Hurricane Run, whose sire Montjeu is the only French-trained horse to win the King George since Pawneese in 1976.

Should Hurricane Run be back to his best, he will be difficult to beat, even in the presence of Heart's Cry, the Japanese sensation and son of Sunday Silence who arrives in England off two of the most remarkable victories chalked up by any horse in the world in the last seven months.

After finishing an unlucky second to Alkaased in the Japan Cup last November, Heart's Cry became the only horse to defeat the Japanese champion Deep Impact, in the Arima Kinen on Dec. 25. Three months later he crushed 13 rivals in the Dubai Sheema Classic. Trained by Kojiro Hashiguchi, Heart's Cry has been absent since his Nad Al Sheba triumph and may be in need of a race despite his proven ability to run well off a long layoff. Regular rider Christophe Lemaire has the call.

All three of the favorites would have to collapse for Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes winner Maraahel to win, and Enforcer is out of his depth entirely. Godolphin will send out Group 1 winner and 2004 Arc runner-up Cherry Mix as a rabbit for Electrocutionist in a King George that, with the withdrawal of Soapy Danger, will be without a 3-year-old in a six-horse field - the smallest since Aunt Edith beat four others in 1966.