Auguste Rodin to face eight rivals in King George

Auguste Rodin heads a high-class field of nine runners declared for the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.

Bitterly disappointing in this race 12 months ago having won the Derby and the Irish equivalent, he bounced back to claim the Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Aidan O’Brien’s charge was last seen winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal meeting and will be a hot favourite to follow up on his return to Berkshire this weekend.

The Deep Impact colt is joined by his Coronation Cup-winning stablemate Luxembourg, as well as Hans Anderson, but O’Brien has decided against saddling St Leger winner Continuous and Point Lonsdale.

High on the list of opposition is the Charlie Appleby-trained Rebel’s Romance, himself a Breeders’ Cup Turf winner. Also on his CV is the Dubai Sheema Classic – in which Auguste Rodin was last – and Hong Kong’s Champions & Chater Cup.

Top-notch filly Bluestocking is set to take her chance for Ralph Beckett and Juddmonte, having got off the mark at Group One level in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.

David Menuisier’s Irish Derby runner-up Sunway represents the Classic generation, with French interest coming in the shape of Hardwicke Stakes second Goliath for Francis-Henri Graffard.

Further representing the Hardwicke form is John and Thady Gosden’s third-placed Middle Earth, while William Haggas will saddle his Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud victor Dubai Honour.