Key Irish Contenders for King George VI Stakes: Spotlight on Jan Brueghel Jan Brueghel remains firmly on track for the Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and a rematch with French rival Calandagan. Aidan O'Brien's star conquered Calandagan in the Coronation Cup at Epsom last month and they are amongst eight confirmations for Ascot. The £1.5m midsummer highlight could feature up to eight runners including the Epsom first and second, while O'Brien is responsible for as many as four of the possible runners. Here's our look at the remaining Irish contenders for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, with Jessica Harrington also retaining an interest at this stage. Midnite Betting Offer If you already have a Midnite account, check out more of the best betting sites and online casinos Jan Brueghel This Ballydoyle colt didn't race at two but was unbeaten in four runs at three, culminating in his St Leger win at Doncaster last September. He was turned over on his seasonal return by Galen at the Curragh, though that came over a much shorter 1m2f trip, and he bounced back by defeating Calandagan in that Epsom Group 1 in June. He has this race and next week's Goodwood Cup as possible options. Lambourn This son of Australia ended last season with a disappointing reverse at the Curragh over a mile and was behind stablemate Delacroix on his comeback in a Leopardstown Derby Trial in March. He hasn't looked back since, winning the Chester Vase, the Epsom Derby and then the Irish Derby. Not since Adayar in 2021 has a three-year-old prevailed in this race and O'Brien's only 3YO winner was the mighty Galileo in 2001. Whirl The Ballydoyle maestro is still pondering this Ascot contest for Epsom Oaks second Whirl. She went on her sword behind stablemate Minnie Hauk that afternoon and has since landed her own Group 1 win via the Pretty Polly Stakes. The daughter of Wootton Bassett is far from exposed at this mile-and-a-half trip and could attempt to emulate Danedream (2012), Taghrooda (2014) and Enable (2017, 2019 and 2020) as the only fillies' to land this race since Time Charter in 1983. Green Impact Jessica Harrington's son of Wootton Bassett won the Group 2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown last season and looked exciting in doing so, with Delacroix back in second. He did win a Listed race at the same venue over 1m1f in June but has come up well short in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Irish Derby at the Curragh in two starts either side of that. He ran a solid race last time but it leaves him with questions to answer in this potential company. Continuous The St Leger winner at Doncaster in 2023, it has been more miss than hit for him since. He won the Group 3 Royal Whip at the Curragh over 1m2f last summer and wasn't disgraced in the Yorkshire Cup as recently as May, but he has toiled in a trio of Group 1 contests in Britain and Ireland since when asked to set a frantic pace to set the race up for stablemates. He may suffer a similar fate now.
