King George V Stakes

The King George V Stakes is a handicap for three-year-olds over an extended mile and three furlongs on day 3 of Royal Ascot.

The race has been won by some high-class stayers over the years including Moon Madness (1986), Give The Slip (2000), Dandino (2010), Brown Panther (2011) and Hukum (2020).

There is always a lively ante-post King George V Stakes market for one of the most competitive handicaps of the Royal meeting.

Find out more about the King George V Stakes:

Race Overview – King George V Stakes

The King George V Stakes is a three-year-old flat handicap race.

It is contested at Ascot each year in June at the Royal Ascot meeting and is run over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards.

Check out our guides to all the other UK Premier Handicap horse races.

King George V Stakes Previous Winners

Take a look at the previous winners from the King George V Stakes:

King George V Stakes Previous Result

Check out this result from the King George V Stakes:

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Famous King George V Stakes Winners

Moon Madness won this race for John Dunlop and Cash Asmussen in 1986. He went on to win the St Leger at Doncaster and the Yorkshire Cup in 1988. Give The Slip was another high-class winner in 2000 for Amanda Perrett and Pat Eddery. He went on to win the Ebor Handicap at York and finished runner-up in the 2001 Melbourne Cup.

2010 winner Dandino proved to be incredibly tough and versatile, winning over £1 million in prize money during his globetrotting career. He won the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket in 2011 and was second in the Group 1 Woodbine International. He also finished second in the 2013 Caulfield Cup and was a strong-finishing fifth in the Melbourne Cup behind Fiorente.

Brown Panther was another very popular King George V Stakes winner in 2011. He was trained by Tom Dascombe and ridden by Richard Kingscote, going on to become one of the leading stayers in the country. His most notable victories were the Goodwood Cup (2013), Irish St Leger (2014) and Dubai Gold Cup (2015). His career earnings also totalled more than £1 million with eleven victories from 28 starts.

Hukum is the latest high class King George V Stakes winner to go on to Group race success. He won for Owen Burrows and Jim Crowley and finished fifth in the St Leger on his final start as a three-year-old. He then progressed to three Group 3 victories the following season and landed his first Group 2 at Meydan in March 2022.

Other notable winners over the years include Midnight Legend (1994), a future leading National Hunt stallion, and Atty Persse (2017), a highly-touted son of Frankel.

Key King George V Stakes Trials

There is no established trial for previous King George V Stakes winners.

Trainers often target the valuable handicaps at Ascot with relatively unexposed horses. King George V Stakes winners have come from a wide variety of sources including maiden races. Elidor (2013) had finished second in the Lingfield Derby Trial, albeit 9 lengths behind the winner.

The London Gold Cup did produce Colony in 2008.

He won this race for Sir Michael Stoute after finishing third at Newbury when starting a heavily-backed favourite. Future targets for King George V Stakes winners range from similar handicaps at York and Newmarket to the season’s final Classic.

Only two of the last twelve winners managed to win next time out. Three of them went on to contest the St Leger at Doncaster, although only one managed a place.

King George V Stakes Betting Trends

Favourites have a poor recent record in this race. Only Colony (2008), Brown Panther (2011) and Elite Army (2014) were successful as favourite or joint-favourite in the King George V Stakes in the last fourteen seasons.

Other recent winners had been fancied, notably Dandino (2010) at 7-1, Primitivo (2016) at 13-2, Atty Persse (2017) at 7-1 and Surefire (2021) at 5-1.

There have also been some shock results, notably Cosmic Sun who won at 66-1 for Richard Fahey and Paul Hanagan in 2009. The gelding left form students scratching their heads after being beaten in all ten previous starts. He was also racing from 3lbs out of the handicap. Heron Bay (2007) and Elidor (2013) both returned at 20-1 in the King George V Stakes betting and South Pacific (2019) was two points longer.

Winners of this race have usually had at last two previous runs in the current season. Most had won over a mile and a quarter but only one of the last twelve had won over a mile and a half. None of them had won at Group race level with winning ratings typically between 88 and 95.

As you would expect for a 66-1 shot, Cosmic Sun was the lowest rated winner of recent times off a mark of 80 in 2009.

Primitivo (2016) was rated 95 when successful for Alan King and William Twiston-Davies.

There is usually quite a narrow weights range for the King George V Stakes. Grand Pavois (1985) and Beekeeper (2001) both carried 9st 7lbs to victory while Cosmic Son had only 7st 12lbs on his back.

The last twelve winners have all carried between 8st 9lbs and 9st 1lb.

King George V Stakes – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Mark Johnston is the trainer to follow in the King George V Stakes. He has won it six times; Diaghilef (1995), Systematic (2002), Fantastic Love (2003), Linas Selection (2006), Fennell Bay (2012) and Baghdad (2018). Aidan O’Brien has only won the race once, having to wait until South Pacific in 2019.

Sir Michael Stoute has won it four times, his most recent being Colony in 2008.

The last 22 renewals have each been won by a different jockey. Even the likes of Frankie Dettori (Heritage 1997) and Ryan Moore (Colony) have managed only a single success.

Summary of King George V Stakes

Thank you for reading our King George V Stakes guide, we hope you enjoyed it.

We have looked at stats, odds, tips and more, so you can make an informed decision whether watching the race or placing a bet.

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