Jockey PJ McDonald credits Pyledriver's win in last month's Hardwicke Stakes with having saved what would otherwise have been a disastrous year for him. Now the rider is looking to the ever popular 6-year-old to repeat last year's win in Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes at Ascot and become just the third multiple winner of Britain's premier all-aged middle-distance event, following Swain and Enable.
This year's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes, a “Win and You're In” race for the Breeders' Cup Turf, is the most competitive renewal in recent memory. Despite the late defection of last year's Derby winner Desert Crown following another setback it features seven Group 1 winners in a field of 11, including the first two in the Derby, yet Pyledriver, an 18-1 chance a year ago, is rightly among the market leaders.
McDonald won a Scottish National on Hot Weld as a conditional jump jockey in 2007 before switching to the Flat, where he was something of a slow burner until linking up with John Dance's Laurens, on whom he won four Group 1s. Having driven up and down the country in pursuit of more than 100 winners three years in a row, a retainer with Dance changed his life, taking the pressure off and enabling him to spend much more time with his wife and two children.
It was a massive blow then when Dance's assets were frozen in the spring while officials from the Financial Conduct Authority investigated reported serious regulatory and operational issues regarding his businesses. McDonald's life was changed overnight, hence his relief after being reunited with the long-absent Pyledriver at Royal Ascot for what proved easily his biggest win so far in what would otherwise have looked a pretty meagre 2023.
McDonald admitted: “My numbers are well down and to be honest if I didn't have Pyledriver this year would be a complete disaster. I've been in the top 10 or 15 jockeys for a lot of years but I had all my eggs in one basket. I've put a lot of work into John and James (Horton, Dance's trainer) and their establishment, and I hadn't done the groundwork at other yards to go freelance.
“It's been a kick in the balls, but it's been tough on James too and it's been tough on John. John sat down with both of us when it came out and assured us he had done nothing wrong. He said he's made a mistake but done nothing illegal. I'm very much still in John's camp, and I'll carry on going into James's four times a week. I've got John's back and I'll be staying loyal to him until I'm told different.”
McDonald, 41, had ridden Pyledriver only once before last year's King George, winning a Listed race at Haydock on him nearly three years previously, and although joint trainer William Muir exuded confidence few expected him to beat the likes of Oaks second Emily Upjohn and recent Irish Derby winner Westover, not to mention the previous year's Arc winner Torquator Tasso.
He said: “It was a big deal for me and it took a long time to sink in. The King George is a very prestigious race and I grew up watching it. It's the best of the best – the best riders, the best horses and the best trainers – and it was great to just be competing in it. To go and win it was a bit surreal to be honest, and he won it properly.
“As much as people want to say some of his rivals didn't run their races, the time stands up as he dipped under standard, just as he did again in the Hardwicke on his reappearance (Deauville Legend fourth), when his time was nearly six seconds quicker than that of King Of Steel the previous afternoon.
“He's a proper, proper horse, and the bit of rain around won't hurt, although he goes on any ground. It's probably the best King George we've seen in a long time, but he's tough and he'll battle. He's been in the trenches before and I'll make it as tough as I can for the rest of them. I'm looking forward to being part of it again, and I'm very excited.”
Pyledriver's former rider Martin Dwyer, recently retired through injury, has been a huge help to McDonald, and the pair will talk again once they have had a chance to digest the declarations and the draw.
McDonald said: “Willie doesn't tie me down to instructions but we'll have a good look at the race and I'll have a chat with Martin, who was absolutely vital in winning the King George last year.
“Pyledriver can make the running, or he can drop in a bit. I'm in a lucky position and I'm not really bothered about what the rest of them do. I'll put my hands on his neck and if there are one or two who want to go off in front of me again and go flat out I'll follow them and switch off lovely, but if not I'm more than happy to do my own thing. I know he'll stay well.”
In open betting for Saturday's race last month's Epsom principals Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, are prominent in all lists. They were separated by just half a length at the end of last month's Betfred Derby, where the runner-up, a 66-1 chance and making his debut for Roger Varian, was reeled in only very late after quickening clear.
Auguste Rodin, who bids to join Galileo and Adayar among the most recent Derby winners to follow up at Ascot, has since won the Irish Derby. He was a top-class two-year-old, when he won on soft and heavy ground, and he is even better this year, but he made surprisingly hard work of beating stable companion Adelaide River at The Curragh.
He is joined here by stable-mates Bolshoi Ballet, Luxembourg and Point Lonsdale – all high-class winners in their own right – as Aidan O'Brien seeks a fifth win in a race he last won back in 2016 with Highland Reel.
Whereas Auguste Rodin struggled somewhat at The Curragh, King Of Steel went on from Epsom to record a stylish win in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, despite that race not going to plan.
His rider Kevin Stott, who describes Saturday's race as “probably the Flat race of the season so far”, can't wait for Saturday and said: “The first and second in the Derby going at it again for the first time since is a massive thing, but it's definitely not just a race between the two three-year-olds.”
He added: “I look at the Derby replay now and again but I wouldn't have changed a thing. We just got run over by a better horse on the day.”
The Danish-born rider, who had trials for Tottenham Hotspur as a 14-year-old, is hopeful of turning the tables all the same, pointing out that it was just King Of Steel's third run and suggesting that Amo Racing's strapping colt has a change of gear that will be a big asset on Saturday. He said: “We knew from his homework and his run at Epsom that he had a quick turn of foot. I wasn't expecting him to handle the track at Epsom, so when he quickened instantly I was very impressed.
“When we then went to Ascot I was hoping we'd have gone more of a gallop, but he quickened very well considering how keen he had been and I think if they had gone more of a gallop he'd have won a bit further.”
While the prevailing softish ground should not be too much of an issue for any of the principals, one who looks sure to revel in it is Hukum, who won the 2021 Cumberland Lodge Stakes by a wide margin the last time he had the chance to run on similar ground.
Hukum suffered a setback after beating Pyledriver decisively in last year's Coronation Cup but looked better than ever when winning Sandown's Brigadier Gerard Stakes from Desert Crown on his first appearance since.
Jim Crowley has always had faith in the Owen Burrows-trained six-year-old and said: “I've always raved about Hukum and it was great to get him back in the Brigadier Gerard, where it was a top performance to beat Desert Crown over the shorter trip.”
Emily Upjohn also merits the greatest respect. She impressed over course and distance in easy ground last October in the QIPCO British Champions Fillies' and Mares' Stakes and had far too much speed in the Dahlbury Coronation Cup for last year's Derby third and Irish Derby winner Westover, too free when favourite here last year, who has since won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
She has since given the outstanding three-year-old Paddington a run for his money over a shorter trip in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown. Dettori currently shares his record seven King George wins with Lester Piggott. This will be his last chance to take the record outright.
The field is completed by Hamish, who has yet to win in better than Group 3 company but is a proper mudlark and gave star stayer Kyprios a race in a soft-ground Irish St Leger last year.
The post ‘He’s Been In The Trenches Before’: Pyledriver Chasing Repeat Victory In Competitive Edition Of King George appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
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