Goliath didn’t merely pull a 25-1 upset Saturday at Ascot in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, he crushed his eight rivals, winning, eased up, by 2 1/4 lengths over the filly Bluestocking. Left bobbing in Goliath’s wake was favored Auguste Rodin, who faded to fifth after coming up the fence and challenging for the lead turning into the Ascot homestretch. Expectations ran much higher for Auguste Rodin, though the colt improved considerably upon his 10th-place showing in the 2023 King George. Bluestocking raced from the rear of the field under Rossa Ryan, making a nice move to get into winning position with a half-mile remaining while eventually unable to quicken with Goliath, who proved much the best under Christophe Soumillon. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Shipping from France for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, Goliath went off at the co-second longest price in the field, lower than only Auguste Rodin’s pacemaker, Hans Anderson. Understandable, because Goliath not only never had won a Group 1, he’d never started in one. Nonetheless, Graffard said after the race that he targeted the King George through the spring, hoping for more pace – and getting it – than showed up at Royal Ascot for the Hardwicke Stakes, where, Graffard said, Goliath pulled too hard through the early and middle stages finishing second. None of that Saturday, Goliath travelling sweetly in fifth through much of the contest, Auguste Rodin just ahead and inside of him. With three furlongs left, many riders already stoking up their mounts, Soumillon sat chilly as Goliath easily kept himself in the race, and it was not until Bluestocking ranged up to his outside with less than a quarter-mile of this 1 1/2-mile contest remaining that Soumillon asked Goliath for run. The response came immediately and definitively. Goliath quickly opened daylight and after Soumillon looked to his right at the big screen on the infield, seeing that the race was over, he let Goliath coast under the wire.   Bluestocking, who got three pounds from the winner, turned in a strong effort herself, coming home 3 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Rebel’s Romance, second choice in the betting. Ascot officially listed the course as good to firm, but Auguste Rodin’s trainer, Aidan O’Brien, said his pre-race walk of the course revealed no firm going anywhere. If Auguste Rodin failed to thrive on ground softer than ideal, the same could be said for Rebel’s Romance, who might have the Sword Dancer at Saratoga on his immediate agenda. Goliath, now with a record of 5-2-0 from nine starts, is a German-bred by Adlerflug out of Gouache, by Shamardal. While Bluestocking has the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as a year-end goal, Goliath as a gelding isn’t eligible for that race. The King George is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and Goliath’s victory gives him automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Turf along with travel expenses to get him to and from California. Unfortunately, neither Goliath nor his stallion are Breeders’ Cup-nominated, and to take advantage of the Challenge Series benefits, owner Philip Baron Von Ullmann would have to pay a $100,000 nomination fee by Oct. 21.   :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.