Cheval Grand team 'honoured' to take on Enable in Ascot showpiece

Connections of Japan's King George challenger Cheval Grand say it will be an honour to line up against superstar mare Enable in Saturday's star-studded race.

Enable will face ten rivals in a bid to extend her winning run to 11 by landing a second Qipco King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, with Prince of Wales's Stakes scorer Crystal Ocean, Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck and Hardwicke Stakes winner Defoe all among the opposition for £1,250,000 contest.

Andre Fabre and owner-breeder Dietrich von Bottischer send over Waldgeist in an attempt to repeat their 2006 triumph with Hurricane Run, a race in which Heart's Cry ran a close third for Japan.

Average rating of runners in the King George (official rating)

2019: 117
2018: 117
2017: 117
2016: 114
2015: 117
2014: 118
2013: 118
2012: 119
2011: 121
2010: 119
2009: 116

Winner of the 2017 Japan Cup and the mount on Saturday of Oisin Murphy, Cheval Grand certainly has the credentials to be involved in the shakeup, while age appears not to have taken its toll on the lightly-raced seven-year-old.

"With Cheval Grand having won the Japan Cup in 2017, we were going to retire him at the end of the 2018 season in Japan," said trainer Yasuo Tomomichi. "However, even after running through the 2018 season, the horse was fine and the results were good, so we decided to continue with him for another year. And he had not yet run abroad so that was what we decided to do."

The 55-year-old trainer is no newcomer when it comes to campaigning his horses outside Japan - a hurdle which has proved difficult for several of his compatriots - and the record suggests that Tomomichi's challenger should be no 33-1 shot, even in such a high-quality lineup.

Along with Cheval Grand's runner-up effort in the Dubai Sheema Classic back in March, Tomomichi has an enviable record with his other international campaigners Vivlos and Makahiki.

Trainer Yasuo Tomomichi has an enviable record when running his horses outside JapanCredit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

"We have learnt a lot from our overseas trips and have experienced staff," said Tomomichi. "In addition, you need a horse that is not affected by the change of environment. As Cheval Grand is a three-parts brother to Vivlos, we thought he would be OK too."

Enable receives fan mail from all over and notably Japan, a phenomenon Tomomichi does not find surprising.

Major League: King George contender Cheval Grand with his owner, former Seattle Mariners pitcher Kazuhiro SasakiCredit: Satoshi Hiramatsu

"I think Japanese fans like strong horses and Enable has won the Arc twice, a race that Japanese horses have yet to win," reasoned Tomomichi. "Cheval Grand's owner, Mr Sasaki, and I have both said that it is an honour to race against Enable. And I hope Enable will come to the Japan Cup in front of her many Japanese fans."

Unsettled forecast

Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickels will wait till Friday evening before deciding on whether to water further ahead of Saturday's big race, with the possibility of a storm on Thursday night and lighter rain showers complicating matters.

The ground was good to firm, good in places on Thursday afternoon after the latest round of watering was completed.

Stickels said: "The forecast keeps changing and at the moment it looks more likely after racing tomorrow and before racing Saturday. But there is not much confidence in the forecast and quite a lot of uncertainty, it does keep changing."

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