Everything geared towards Ascot return for Goliath

Goliath will bid to turn Hardwicke Stakes misfortune into King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes compensation when he attempts to reclaim the prize he landed in 2024 back at Ascot later this month.

Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, the French raider has developed a great affinity with the Berkshire venue, winning its feature midsummer Group One in fine style two years ago.

Another victory at the track was looking possible during Royal Ascot before jockey Christophe Soumillon lost his irons while mounting a challenge inside the final furlong of a race eventually won by Giavellotto after a titanic battle with Kalpana.

John Stewart, whose Resolute Racing owns a majority share in Goliath, said: “It was unfortunate what happened in the Hardwicke, but he ran a good race. I think afterwards he was thinking ‘what did you do Christophe, we had this race!’, but he will get another chance.

“I don’t know if he would have actually won being fair and there was three very good horses making a hard charge. He definitely lost a step though when Christophe’s foot came out the irons, so it was just unfortunate.

“He came out of the Hardwicke fine and it was always going to be sort of a prep for the King George. We know he likes the track and what we’ve found out is he loves to run clockwise.

“A part of that is because of his stringhalt and that’s on his left side, so when he’s going round the turns anti-clockwise it just bothers him a little.

“We know he enjoys Ascot and to be honest that is perfectly fine for us – if you said to me your horse can only run at only one track, then I would always say Ascot.”

Goliath’s King George success in 2024 came in the colours of Philip Baron Von Ullmann who retained a stake in the horse when Stewart got involved shortly after that triumph.

And the American businessman is now dreaming of seeing the six-year-old thrive again on the big stage as connections attempt to carefully maximise the remaining years of the dual Group One winner’s career.

“It would be phenomenal to see him win it again and we just want to see him be competitive,” added Stewart.

“We’re being very selective this year given his age and we think we could get another couple of years with him as long as we take care of him and don’t rush him and Francis is doing a fantastic job with him.”

One race Goliath could get to contest in the coming years is the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after France Galop’s proposal to open the race up to geldings from 2027, news that has been welcomed by Stewart.

He added: “Letting geldings in the Arc is fantastic in my opinion and I think if you want to call yourself one of the best races in the world then you can’t exclude horses.

“I think the fans want to see the best racing against the best. I get the breeding side of it because those Group and Grade Ones are few and far between, especially when you are trying to make a stallion.

“But from a fan point of view, of course you want to see the best horses line up against one another.”