Highfield Princess will now drop in grade and head to Glorious Goodwood for the King George Stakes after her two respectable placed efforts in Group 1 company at Royal Ascot.
Highfield Princess Set for King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood
John Quinn’s six-year-old mare hit the frame in both the King’s Stand Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes during the Royal meeting last month. Highfield Princess was far from disgraced in that audacious bid to emulate Blue Point and bag the big Ascot races Group 1 sprint double, finishing second and third in these events.
Quinn considered the July Cup and Prix Maurice de Gheest in France as her next targets. Highfield Princess demonstrated her versatility by landing the latter event last summer, but is now set for a short break before returning at the Glorious meeting on Friday, 4 August.
Now run under its sponsored title of the King George Qatar Stakes, the Goodwood contest is only a Group 2, but the winner still receives over £170,000. Highfield Princess escapes a penalty under the terms of the race with older mares allotted the same weight as a three-year-old colt and gelding that hasn’t won in the grade or higher.
Quinn Admits to “Slight Change in Plan” for Highfield Princess
“We decided against the July Cup and she’s going to go to Goodwood,” said Quinn of his stable star. “That’s a slight change in plan, but we’re going down the sprinting five-furlong route, that’s our thinking.
“We thought, like last year, we’d give her a bit of a break now, a bit of a midsummer break and then head to Goodwood. She doesn’t have a Group 1 penalty which is handy.
“After Goodwood, we’ll then look at two of the races she won last year (Nunthorpe Stakes at York and Flying Five at the Curragh).”
Highfield Princess was a triple Group 1 winner last season and involved in a stewards’ inquiry with Bradsell in the King’s Stand last month. Archie Watson’s supplemented three-year-old survived officials taking a closer look at the closing stages of the 5f Royal Ascot sprint and kept the race.
Bradsell and @HollieDoyle1 do it again!
A fourth Royal @Ascot winner for our ambassador in the King’s Stand Stakes as she beats Highfield Princess…pic.twitter.com/i3tE6bz0Vo
— Sky Sports Racing (@SkySportsRacing) June 20, 2023
Quickly turned out just four days later, Highfield Princess ran a 1 1/2 lengths third to last year’s King George Stakes winner Khaadem in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Giving her time to get over her exertions at the Royal meeting could prove smart from connections.
What Date & Time is the King George Stakes 2023?
📅Time/Date: 3:35pm (Friday, 4th August 2023)
🏇Racecourse: Goodwood Racecourse
💰 Winning Prize: £170,130
📺 TV: Racing TV / ITV
🎲 King George Stakes 2023 Odds: TBC
King George Stakes 2023 Entries
- Khaadem
- Claredon House
- Equality
- Equilateral
- Existent
- Fine Wine
- Ponntos
- Raasel
- Regional
- Silky Wilkie
- Twilight Calls
- Aesop’s Fables
- Dramatised
- Get Ahead
- Great State
- Highfield Princess
- Kerdos
- Ladies Church
- Makarova
- Marshman
- Nymphadora
- Proverb
- Royal Aclaim
- Tajalla
- The Antarctic
- Vicious Harry
- White Lavender
- Fix You
- Perdika
- Queen Me
- Stauette
- The Platinum Queen
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