Hukum on top in final heave of King George to keep Westover at bay

Hukum and Westover provided the strongest renewal of the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes for many years with the finish it deserved here on Saturday, with Hukum, a 13-2 chance trained by Owen Burrows and ridden by Jim Crowley, emerging as the winner by a head after a sustained duel between the two horses through the final furlong-and-a-half.

There was drama as the field turned for home as the 9-4 favourite, Auguste Rodin, already the winner of both the Derby at Epsom and its Irish equivalent, dropped away to finish last. Hukum and Westover then emerged from the pack to fight it out with Crowley’s mount edging ahead only in the final strides.

Hukum was one of two six-year-olds in the race and was running for only the second time since winning the Coronation Cup at Epsom last June, having suffered a serious injury which kept him off the track until May.

“All credit to Sheikha Hissa [al Maktoum, Hukum’s owner] because this horse could quite easily have gone off to stud after the Coronation,” Crowley said. “She decided to keep him in training and it’s been rewarded today, and it’s a good training performance as well, he’d been off a while.

“Even to have a ride in the race was special, and I don’t think there were too many excuses for the others so it was nice for him to win in the manner that he did.”