The King George heroines Enable will be bidding to emulate

Since the King George was inaugurated in 1951, only three three-year-old fillies have won Ascot's midsummer highlight. Here are the fillies Enable will be bidding to emulate

1. Dahlia (1973)

The first three-year-old filly to win the King George, Dahlia had won the Irish Oaks the previous week but was not expected to challenge Rheingold and Roberto at Ascot. However, the filly, trained in France by Maurice Zilber and ridden by Bill Pyers, barged her way through two furlongs out and sprinted six lengths clear of favourite Rheingold, with Roberto nearly last. One of the greatest fillies in racing history, Dahlia became the first dual King George winner under Lester Piggott 12 months later, but in 1975 was a distant third to Grundy and Bustino.

2. Pawneese (1976)

Like Enable, Pawneese was a dual Oaks winner, having scored front-running triumphs at Epsom and Chantilly, and those tactics suited the Angel Penna-trained filly again at Ascot. She led all the way and repelled Bruni and Orange Bay by a length and a short head. Yves Saint-Martin displayed consummate jockeyship on Pawneese. By contrast, Freddy Head could not prevent Youth – the favourite and the best horse in Europe that year – losing all chance by running very wide turning for home.

3. Taghrooda (2014)

Enable may bid to emulate Taghrooda, another John Gosden-trained three-year-old filly who had won the Oaks. She scored decisively at Epsom and the only horse shorter than her in the King George market was wide-margin Hardwicke winner Telescope. Taghrooda headed Telescope just inside the final furlong and kept on stoutly under Paul Hanagan to retain her unbeaten record by three lengths, with Eclipse victor Mukhadram a short-head away third. She was beaten in both her subsequent races, the Yorkshire Oaks and the Arc.

Click here to see this year's King George contenders