O’Brien’s rising star faces champion in King George blockbuster

Master trainer Aidan O’Brien is not prone to exaggeration, so when he compares a horse currently in his stable to a former superstar he has trained, it is worth sitting up and take notice.

Those horses are Benvenuto Cellini and the colt’s grandfather Galileo, with O’Brien telling At The Races that he thinks Benvenuto Cellini, still only a three-year-old, has the class and courage of Galileo but “probably” a bit more speed.

This weekend, racing enthusiasts who are willing to book in for a late night viewing will be served a double treat when the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes will be contested at Ascot.

Firstly, they can see the O’Brien theory tested at first hand … and possibly a piece of history … when Benvenuto Cellini, the Irish Derby winner, trying to emulate Galileo who won the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes as a three-year-old in 2001.

The three-year-old son of Frankel is bidding to back up his Irish Derby win with victory at Ascot this weekend in a race Galileo won in his Classic year back in 2001. If he can do that Benvenuto Cellini will become only the seventh three-year-old winner of the race this century, as well as put O’Brien back in the winner’s enclosure in a race which, surprisingly, he has not won for ten years.

The second serving in the double treat overlaps the first and comes in the form of the mouth-watering prospect of a race in which Benvenuto Cellini has been set on a collision course with the likes of, amongst others, the mighty Calandagan, Masquerade Ball, Kalpana, Minnie Hauk and Goliath.

It the clash between Benvenuto Cellini and the five-year-old Calandagan, who was named the 2025 Longines World’s Best Racehorse, which will attract the biggest point of focus.

Calandagan, the current race favourite, defended his Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint Cloud title on July 5, adding that to his list of Group 1 successes which includes the 2026 Dubai Sheema Classic, the 2025 Japan Cup … in which he broke the track record and became the first European horse to win the race in twenty years … the 2025 Champion Stakes, the 2025 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, 2025 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud … meaning that he has scored victories at the elite level in no less than four countries, the UAE, England, France and Japan.

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Now Calandagan, who is trained out of his Chantilly base in France by Francis-Henri Graffard, will try to defend his King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes crown and win the race for a second time.

Four other highly capable runners are well worthy of a second glance.

Masquerade Ball finished second to Calandagan in a thrilling stride for stride finish in the Japan Cup … Kalpana finished second to Calandagan in last year’s running of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes … Minnie Hauk, another Aidan O’Brien entry, is a Triple Oaks winner who finished runner-up in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, when just touched off by Daryz … while Goliath, the stable companion to Calandagan and the 2024 winner of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, is also looking to land the race for a second time.

If all of these runners stand their ground and face the starter, this will be quite a race.