King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes: Online Betting Tips and Free Bet Offers

Andrew Cutting (Staff Writer) /
9:49 AM GMT • 22nd September, 2023

Here at freebets.ltd.uk you will find expert betting tips as well as the best horse racing odds and free bet offers all from our partners at Ladbrokes.

Ascot Racecourse will host the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes on Saturday. The Group 1 race is one of the highlights of the British flat racing season and this year's renewal looks particularly strong. Here at freebets.ltd.uk you will find expert betting tips as well as the best horse racing odds and free bet offers all from our partners at Ladbrokes.

First contested in 1951, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a group 1 flat race contested over a distance of 1m4f. The race is now Britain's most prestigious flat race with last year's winner receiving in excess of £700,000 in prize money.

Many winners of this race have gone onto compete in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. 2017 winner, Enable was the last horse to win both races in the same year. The John Gosden-trained superstar is the only three-time King George winner having also won the race in 2019 and 2020.

There are fifteen entries confirmed for this year's race and the top six in the market can barely be separated. Last year's winner, Pyledriver is amongst the leading six and warmed up for the race by winning a competitive Hardwicke Stakes over C&D at Royal Ascot.

John Gosden has trained the winner in five of the past thirteen renewals having also won with Nathaniel (2011) and Taghrooda (2014). The Gosden team will be represented this year by Emily Upjohn. Emily Upjohn was sixth of six in this race last year, a run that connections failed to explain afterwards. However, she has subsequently landed the Coronation Stakes at Epsom and was equally impressive when second to Paddington in this month's Coral-Eclipse.

This year's race favourite, Auguste Rodin put a disappointing 2000 Guineas run behind him to win back-to-back Group 1 races in the space of a month. Auguste Rodin won The Derby at Epsom before winning the Irish Derby at the Curragh three weeks ago. One of six Aidan O'Brien horses in the race, Auguste Rodin is certainly the one to beat.

Hukum is an intriguing entry given how little race action he's seen recently. Won last year's Coronation Cup ahead of subsequent King George winner, Pyledriver but not seen again until turning over odds-on favourite, Desert Crown to win the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in May. If he's at his best he could be a real big player.

Desert Crown will also line up at Ascot on Saturday, hoping to bounce back from that defeat at Sandown. Last year's Derby winner is the lightest-raced of all the leading players but is more than capable of landing another Group 1.

King Of Steel is also a leading player following an impressive win in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot. However, he's found Auguste Rodin too good on two previous occasions and there's nothing to suggest he'll overturn that form on Saturday.