Ascot Racecourse Media Release for immediate release, Tuesday, July 25, 2017 Ulysses late dash for glory in Saturday's King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO) Ulysses, who re-opposes his G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes conqueror Highland Reel in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO), will be held up as long as possible in a bid to reverse the placings at Ascot on Saturday, July 29. Alan Cooper, racing manager to the Niarchos Family which owns Ulysses, said today: "In the Prince Of Wales's Stakes, maybe Ulysses thought job done when he hit the front, and we had to hold him up a bit more. "Jim Crowley did that when Ulysses won the Eclipse but even then he said to me 'I would have liked to have been more patient'. "As a horse matures, you learn more about him and what tactics he is comfortable with. A daring ride is the way it looks like." This was revealed today when QIPCO and Ascot Racecourse hosted a media event this afternoon ahead of the 2017 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO), which is Britain's premier all-aged middle-distance contest and boasts a prize fund of £1.15-million. Ulysses is out to give trainer Sir Michael Stoute an unprecedented sixth win in the Ascot race, with his previous success coming with runaway winner Harbinger in 2010. It was Ulysses who provided Stoute with his sixth G1 Eclipse Stakes earlier this month when beating Barney Roy by a nose. Stoute said: "Yes, we're very happy with Ulysses, and as far as the trip is concerned, he won a Gordon Stakes and ran a very solid race at Santa Anita in the Breeders' Cup Turf over a mile and a half. "He's more settled this year, he relaxes better, so that will be to his advantage. I think the trip to Santa Anita did him a lot of good. I hoped that it would, and it did." Ulysses finished third behind Highland Reel at Royal Ascot in the G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes over 10 furlongs on June 21. Stoute continued: "Highland Reel is a very admirable horse, and very, very tough to beat. But we go there hopeful on Saturday "I hope there's not too much rain at Ascot. I just don't want the ground too testing for him, so we'll have to see how the weather behaves, but we're hoping to run." Cooper added: "It took Ulysses a long time at two and three last year to mature mentally, and Sir Michael said the trip to Santa Anita did him a lot of good in that respect. "It would be absolutely fabulous to win the King George and it is great to be going into the race with a live chance. "I am hoping we will be a lot closer to Highland Reel this time but we were behind him at Santa Anita and we were behind him in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes. Let's see what happens this time." John Gosden's two contenders are star three-year-old filly Enable and top-class older horse Jack Hobbs. Enable completed the Epsom and Irish Oaks double in emphatic style at the Curragh July 15, while Jack Hobbs is out to bounce back from a disappointing eighth behind Highland Reel at Royal Ascot on unsuitable ground. Gosden said: "Enable has been left in the race, and I think the final decision will be made tomorrow (Wednesday morning). I'll talk with the owner [Khalid Abdullah] and see how we want to play it, but she took Ireland very well. She got a bit of a cut behind, but that's healed. "Her races have been well spread so far: Newbury to the Cheshire Oaks was about three weeks, then from the Cheshire Oaks to the Oaks was a month. Then, obviously six, seven weeks to the Irish Oaks. So, she's been well spaced, and she's done well physically. "This is a two week gap, but she took her race very well. So, we're having a really strong look at the race. "She skipped clear of some very nice fillies in Ireland. She flew over, so she didn't have the strain of a 15-hour journey through Holyhead on the ferry either. "Jack Hobbs was very fortunate to get his ground in Dubai [won G1 Dubai Sheema Classic impressively in March]. He wasn't so fortunate at Royal Ascot. It had always been the plan to run him in the Prince of Wales's. He had run obviously brilliantly over one mile and a quarter before in autumn ground, notably when he came back from the whole season off last year and finished just right in behind Almanzor and Found. You don't have much better form than that. "I think the 34 centigrade heat and the lightning fast track at Royal Ascot did not suit him so he is back to probably his best distance and he's back to some give in the ground, so that should play to his strengths." Last year's victor Highland Reel is bidding to become only the third back-to-back winner of the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO) and the first since Swain in 1997 and 1998. A six-time G1 winner across three continents, five-year-old Highland Reel was last seen out when successful in the 10-furlong G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes. Highland Reel is set to be joined by his year younger full-brother Idaho who scored in the 12-furlong G2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 24. Trainer Aidan O'Brien said: "Highland Reel is another incredible horse. He's tactically very quick, he's very like his dad [Galileo]. He stays well, but is also very quick out the gates, very good to get a position and he would absolutely die for you. It's incredible, he's so genuine. "He handles fast ground, mile and a quarter to a mile and a half. He's travelled the world and has an unbelievable constitution. He is a typical example of what his dad was. So he's very clear winded, very sound and has a great mind. On the big day, on the big races, you see he gets his blood up when he needs to. And when he doesn't, he's relaxed. He's a great horse. "If everything is well then we would really look forward to the King George. High summer, fast ground, a mile and half is really what he loves. "It's a very prestigious race, the King George, and I think because it's a tough race sometimes three- year olds haven't gone there. But that's what makes it as good as it is, is when those really special three-year olds come along. "If it was an easy race to win, it would lose its prestige and value. So if anyone sees a three-year old and they can compete and win a King George, it's extra special. Even to have a four-year old win it, like with Highland Reel last year, is special and so important to his CV." Highland Reel and Idaho are owned by Coolmore partners Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. Coolmore's UK representative Kevin Buckley said: "As we have seen at the Royal Meeting, Highland Reel likes Ascot. He does like good or better ground which is one thing we must not forget, but he is tough, durable and gives his all every time. "He is Galileo's highest-earning son on the track, having amassed over six million pounds in prize money. Asked if Highland Reel still has anything to prove, Buckley added: "I personally don't believe so, and it is nice to see the racing public have recognised his feats. People talk to me about Highland Reel whether I'm walking down the high street in Newmarket or on the racecourse and he deserves that. "Idaho has not won a G1 race yet whereas Highland Reel has won six of them on three continents. He has got a hard act to follow. "US Army Ranger and Johannes Vermeer are unlikely to run but we are still a few days away from declaration time and, as we know, things can change with horses. The plan at the moment is for Highland Reel and Idaho to run. "The King George is an absolutely high-class race. For me, standing in our stallion yard in Coolmore talking to potential breeders who are going to use these types of stallions, mentioning the King George winner speaks absolute volumes." History will be created in 2017 with the first South American-trained runner in Britain set to line up in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO). Sixties Song (Alfredo Dassie ARG) is a son of the 2006 St Leger winner Sixties Icon and a dual G1 winner on turf in South America, having taken the continent's premier all-aged 12-furlong contest, the Longines Gran Premio Latinoamericano at Valparaiso, Chile, in March and the Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini at San Isidro, Argentina, in December. The Argentine-trained colt, who arrived in Britain over the weekend, is currently boarding at Abington Place Stables in Newmarket. Nico Gaitan, assistant trainer to his father, said: "We are very proud of Sixties Song. Winning the Gran Premio Latinoamericano was amazing, and running in the King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a really nice challenge for all of us.