Rowleyfile Preview: King George V Stakes

In much the way that admission to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot in June is imagined by some to indicate a person’s standing, many of the horses who provide the entertainment for the well-heeled humans might claim a superiority over their equine brethren, if only they could talk.

As an example, the runners for Thursday’s King George V Stakes reads like a “who’s who” of breeding, despite the race being “only” a handicap, that most egalitarian of concepts. The majority of them are related to performers described by Timeform as “smart” or better. 

There are half-brothers to St Leger winners, in Lucarno (Tartini) and Mastery (First Nation), and sons of Frankel (Majoris and Atty Persse) and Galileo (Utah), just for starters.

In such a setting, it may be a trifle surprising to find an all-weather horse pitching up, and not just pitching up but looking to have a winning chance.

That horse is Master Singer, who “slummed it” on an artificial surface at Newcastle last time, but who can nonetheless claim some pedigree, even in this company, being a half-brother to Campanologist, who won the King Edward VII Stakes here in 2008 then several good races abroad.

Master Singer is trained by John Gosden and won that all-weather maiden by 16 lengths, so it is all relative. Gosden has run good horses on the wrong side of the tracks early in their careers, including Jack Hobbs and Western Hymn, and Master Singer looks in the same mould to me.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, however: a look at the 10-year trends for the King George V Stakes adds substance to the impressions made by Master Singer to date.

Those place impact values and % of rivals beaten illustrate the curiosity that is a draw bias in favour of high numbers in this mile-and-a-half contest.

Being drawn in the top half of the field has been better than being drawn in the bottom half of the field, and by some way, presumably because horses on the rail get crowded out. Master Singer is drawn in 15 (which will become 13 in the presumed absence of the three reserves).

Handicap marks are something of a moveable feast where the BHA is concerned. As such, it is probably best to view those figures as representing a top-half/bottom-half divide. Master Singer has only three ahead of him in the handicap for Thursday’s race.

Master Singer is also one of only five of the 19 guaranteed a run to have appeared less than three times in the current season, he won his last race, and he has been off the course for between 29 and 56 days (30 to be precise), all of which are positives on trends also.

That Newcastle win of Master Singer’s merits closer inspection. The overall time was useful, and sectionals show that it was an honest test. Master Singer might not have been beating much, but he absolutely wiped the floor with them despite coasting for much of the closing stages. Breeding suggests he will be even better at this longer trip, but that applies to some of his rivals also.

The best of those rivals looks to be Atty Persse, who remains unexposed after just three starts, the first two of which he won. Things did not go his way when he was beaten in a tactical affair at Haydock last time, and he could be suited by this longer trip.

Then again, Atty Persse is favourite in the opening shows while Master Singer is available at double-figure odds.

It would not be the biggest surprise if either Homesman or Sofia’s Rock were to prevail from high weights and favourably wide draws, but it would take a Group-standard effort from them off marks in the 100s.

“Group standard” may be what Master Singer proves to be. He can be given a good chance on what he has done already, and the trends offer further encouragement. He looks like having a true pace to aim at, with the Mark Johnston-trained pair of Sofia’s Rock and Bear Valley already confirmed as pace-forcers.

As usual with handicaps of this nature, an each-way bet is at least worth considering. The early win book was 129% (you would have to stake a total of £129 proportionally to each horse’s odds to guarantee a return of £100 regardless of the outcome) and the place book derived from that was just 104% per place, assuming four places. If you shop around, you may even get place terms better than that.

The recommendation is to back Master Singer for both a win and each way, with the place part of the latter turning a profit come what may…..assuming he runs as well as I hope he will, of course!

Recommendation: 1 pt each way plus 1 pt win (3 pts in total) MASTER SINGER at 14/1, ¼ odds first 4 places