Top trainer George Boughey has won three handicaps at Royal Ascot since his maiden victory at the meeting in 2022, but he hopes to be able to secure a first feature success this year right out of the gates when Believing contests the G1 King Charles III Stakes on Day 1 of the prestigious festival.
Believing won the G1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan in April, a well-deserved breakthrough at the highest level after six top-four finishes in Group 1 sprints. It was her first run in the purple colours of Coolmore’s Derrick Smith after she was bought from leading syndicators Highclere Racing late last year.
“We were hugely grateful to Coolmore for leaving her with us after they bought her,” Boughey told Andrew Le Jeune on the Idol Horse Podcast. “I’m grateful that they gave us the opportunity to try and get her to that next level, which she did in Dubai. I was pretty hopeful that we had her in the right condition to give a good account of herself at Meydan and then she ran to our expectations there, which was pleasing after the tough end she had to the season at the Breeders’ Cup.
“It’s a huge credit to the whole team because she’s become very straightforward. We’re looking forward to the King Charles, she wasn’t beaten far last year and we think she’s a better horse this year.”
Last year, Believing ran in both the King Charles III Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes – finishing fourth in both races, four days apart – but Boughey said she will likely only race once during the week this time around.
“It’d be no surprise to see her confirmed (for the Jubilee) just in case something went wrong or for some reason she didn’t run (in the King Charles) and we had to pull the trigger later in the week,” he said. “But the five-furlong race has been the plan for a while and I think one run could do it for her this year.”
While Believing will not run in the Highclere two-tone blue this year, Boughey will still send out a number of runners for Harry Herbert’s operation, including last year’s Sandringham Handicap winner Soprano in the G2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes, Chic Colombine in the Kensington Palace Handicap and Awaken in the G3 Albany Stakes.
He will also have Hey Tru Blue, owned by Australian syndicators First Light Racing and Group 1-winning Queensland trainer Tony Gollan, in the G2 Norfolk Stakes among 11 potential runners across the week.
“Billy Loughnane will ride most of mine,” he said. “Ryan Moore will obviously ride Believing and he also rides another one, El Burhan, in the Britannia. We’ve got one for Shadwell which Jim Crowley will ride too.” ∎
