ASCOT 16:10

All 5 ran.

Time: 2m 29.74s Closing Sectional: (3f): 35s (107.3%)

Overrounds: Industry SP 107%, Betfair SP 102.6%

Even with no 3-y-o representation this looked an enthralling edition of the King George from a tactical perspective, Jan Brueghel, with the aid of Continuous, set to try to drag Calandagan into a battle, just as he had in the Coronation Cup, the change of tactics that ensued clearly a surprise and, just as the team had got the pace wrong in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, Los Angeles sitting too close to Continuous' stern fractions, so too they did here for the opposite reason, Jan Brueghel allowed to try to control the race from the front but managing instead to serve up the sort of scenario that looked ideal for the 2 horses in the race with Group 1 form at 1¼m, the left-field tactical switch-up totally back-firing and, 50 years on from the great Grundy vs Bustino King George, this one certainly won't be remembered in similar fashion.

CALANDAGAN (IRE) had gone down at the hands of Jan Brueghel in the Coronation Cup in a race that became attritional, but he's a much faster horse than that one and showed that in spades in a race that panned out far more favourably; steadied at the start and dropped out, he was still travelling fluently when making ground over 2f out, progress that soon took him into second before quickening past Kalpana in the final 100 yds; he's shown enough to think on balance he's a slightly better horse than Jan Brueghel, and he'll presumably head back to York in a bid to go one better than last year in a Juddmonte International that is shaping up once again to be the race of the summer.

KALPANA ran a cracker, back against males and returned to 1½m, a run that saw her promoted to Arc favouritism given the winner's ineligibility for that; waited with, she made smooth progress on the home turn before Calandagan, leading over 2f out and quickening a little way clear before being collared in the final 100 yds; this was a career best, while a physique and way of travelling, not to mention an effectiveness on soft ground, mean there could yet be even more to come, though, rather like Bluestocking last year, it's her high-level consistency that is perhaps her greatest attribute.

REBEL'S ROMANCE (IRE) was the one rival disadvantaged by the left-field Ballydoyle tactics, and it's a measure of his superb consistency that he was still able to run to another very smart rating; in touch, going well when no room from over 3f out and shuffled back to rear early in straight when denied a run between the 2 Ballydoyle runners, took third final 100 yds without being at all knocked about.

JAN BRUEGHEL (IRE) typically sweating, had never made the running outright before and the tactical switch-up was as ineffective as it was unexpected (even though the fitting of cheekpieces was, in hindsight, a clue), whether by design or not unable to go anything like fast enough to draw the sting out of Calandagan and co and a sitting duck in the straight, the way he wandered when asked for maximum pressure suggesting perhaps this ground was livelier than ideal, too; these tactics will surely be shelved, and Epsom showed that he's capable of high-class form at 1½m with the right pace set-up, but it could be that he's parachuted into the staying division should Illinois fluff his lines at Goodwood this week.

CONTINUOUS (JPN) had fulfilled his pacemaking duties to a tee in the Coronation Cup, though less so in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, and this switch in role from domestique to chaperone didn't work at all; jumped out better than Jan Brueghel but was immediately restrained onto his stablemate's quarters, taking a strong hold, and he hung about until left behind quickly 2f out.