Aidan O'Brien fires two arrows at the 76th King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on 25 July 2026, with Benvenuto Cellini and Minnie Hauk leading the Ballydoyle challenge for Britain's richest midsummer Flat race. Nine runners go to post for the 1-mile-3-furlong-and-211-yard contest, scheduled for 15:35, with £1,134,200 awaiting the winner on ground rated Good to Firm (Racing TV).

Ryan Moore takes the ride on Benvenuto Cellini, the booking that marks the Irish Derby winner as O'Brien's first string. Benvenuto Cellini took the Curragh Classic in late June after a stalls incident — his leg got caught in the starting gates — ruled him a non-runner in the Epsom Derby. The Timeform rating of 124p (the "p" denoting a horse still open to improvement) reflects a three-year-old with only seven career starts and four wins to his name.

Minnie Hauk, the stable's second runner, carries a Timeform rating of 127 and a stronger résumé. The four-year-old has won six of her eleven starts, including three Group Ones — the top tier of Flat racing. She won both the Oaks at Epsom and the Irish Oaks in the summer of 2025 before finishing second behind Daryz in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. This season she ran second to Ombudsman at Royal Ascot but could manage only fifth of seven in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May. Wayne Lordan takes the mount.

O'Brien has won this race four times, most recently with Highland Reel in 2016. That decade-long gap adds quiet pressure to a yard accustomed to dominating Europe's biggest Flat races (The Guardian).

Calandagan was among 14 horses still in contention after the latest entry stage, though nine were ultimately declared for the race itself (Ascot Racecourse).

Earlier on the King George card, Moonrise landed the Princess Margaret Stakes at odds of 11-2, beating Dee's Funny Girl and Velozee in an eleven-runner field for two-year-old fillies. The favourite, Dark Issue, sent off at around 100-30, was a disappointment.

Up at York, Kodiac Thriller took the opening 1.30 at 17-2 under Jamie Hamilton, holding off Sports Coach (9-2) and Managing Director (6-1) in a seventeen-runner sprint. The Sky Bet Dash Handicap later on the York card featured 21 sprinters, with Fivethousandtoone a non-runner.

Looking ahead, Ascot announced on 20 July that the King George will be run for £2.5 million from 2027 onwards — a significant boost from the current prize fund, part of a broader pattern of financial growth reported across the racecourse's 2025 results (Ascot Racecourse).

For fans, the 2026 renewal carries its own weight. O'Brien holds the strongest hand on paper, but the King George has a habit of humbling short-priced favourites. Benvenuto Cellini's inexperience — seven starts, no race beyond ten furlongs — and Minnie Hauk's below-par run at the Curragh last time out leave genuine questions for a race that demands stamina, class and toughness in equal measure.