Goliath by name, Goliath by nature. Crowds flood to Ascot on the final Saturday in July each year with dreams of seeing a mighty performance – and how their wishes came true.
Bookmakers thought Goliath, trained in Chantilly by Francis Henri Graffard, was more of a David and chalked him up at 25/1 for the King George and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes, the historic mid-summer middle distance championship.
But those odds chronically underestimated both the six-year-old gelding’s ability and his trainer’s capacity to prepare a horse for a Group One target.
And resist the urge to assume that such a big price winner meant fancied rivals underperformed.
This was not the case. Auguste Rodin, the hot favourite trained by Aidan O’Brien, trailed in fifth and looked like he was galloping in treacle during the last of the 12 furlongs, having chased a frantic pace set by stablemates Hans Anderson and Luxembourg.
The Francis Henri Graffard-trained gelding stunned the field winning a historic race
Jockey Christophe Soumillon rode Goliath into the history books at Ascot, on Saturday
The six-year-old gelding proved he can perform in the elite echelons of Group One racing
Connections, curiously, blamed the ground for his defeat, saying it was softer than the official good to firm, but nobody else was offering such excuses for coming up short; not those associated with Bluestocking, the runner-up, or third-place Rebel’s Romance.
There was simply recognition that they had been beaten by a giant here on the day. Goliath has a condition called stringhalt, which means his back leg twitches and leaves him with an ungainly walk, but at racing speed he is truly electric.
‘I saw his odds and started thinking I was a fool,’ said Graffard. ‘I thought nobody believes in him. But he travels so nicely and when he was able to do that, I knew he would quicken.’
And how he quickened, the instant response almost requiring a sound effect ‘whoosh!’. So beautifully was Christophe Soumillon travelling, sitting motionlessly as those around him frantically shook at reins, he had to do a double take.
‘I looked to my left and I had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,’ said Soumillion, who rode the last French winner of the King George, Hurricane Run, in 2006.
‘I got to the two furlong post and I knew it was game over for the others.
‘He was 25/1 but I was very optimistic. He just needed a lot of pace in the race to bring the best out of him and that is what we got.
‘I’m very proud for everyone, for Francis, for the connections, but I’m also proud for myself. When you are young and you win a big race, you think you will win them another five or 10 times.
‘So when it happens like this, you have to enjoy it. Getting on a champion is very rare.’
Queen Camilla presented the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipoc Stakes trophy
That tag, and the £708,675 first prize, is deserving. The quality of this field was deep and highly impressive, with the nine runners having collected 20 Group One prizes between them, from California to Hong Kong and all destinations in between.
Five, including Bluestocking and Rebel’s Romance, arrived in Berkshire on the back of top-level triumphs, so there is no need to doubt the quality of this form.
It is simply a moment to recognise a top athlete delivering on rich potential.
‘I’m very proud,’ said Ralph Beckett, Bluestocking’s trainer, who was standing on the silver medal podium for the second consecutive year after Westover’s agonising defeat to Hukum.
Jockey Soumillion rode the last French winner of the King George, Hurricane Run, in 2006
This time, however, there was no sense of ‘what if’.
‘We could have dropped in at the mile-and-a-quarter pole and would have still got beat. What an enormous performance that was from the winner here today. We have run a career best. It was a huge effort.’
It was indeed. But it was not remotely enough to bring down the mighty Goliath.
