Mount Kilimanjaro erupts late on to land Dee Stakes success
As Great David came over from a wide draw to lead the field at a strong pace, Ryan Moore was some way off the gallop.
He looked to have a mountain to climb as they turned into the straight, with High Stock taking over at the head of affairs, but the even-money favourite got going late on to win by a neck.
Ryan Moore doing Ryan Moore things 🫡
Mount Kilimanjaro comes from the clouds to wrestle the Boodles Raindance Dee Stakes away from the plucky High Stock inside the final furlong 🌪️#PremierRaceday @ChesterRaces pic.twitter.com/i2WIWPL4m2
— Great British Racing (@GBRacing) May 8, 2025
Paul Smith, son of co-owner Derrick, said: 'It was a great ride by Ryan, he was very patient. I think the pace was very honest and Ryan didn't panic and the horse quickened up well and showed a nice attitude.
'As we've always said, they learn so much here – it's almost like they have two races in one. He'll come forward again from this, so we're delighted with him.
'I think he'll go for a Derby of some sorts, either Epsom or the French Derby was mentioned as well. There's options for him and we'll just see how the trials go and juggle them and see where they all go.'
Coolmore representative Kevin Buckley said: 'I thought this fella showed a great turn of foot and I suppose it gives us the option of either going to Epsom or going to France with him.
'It was a good performance and Ryan was very complimentary. I was impressed and it makes it a record of Dee Stakes wins for Aidan with 12.'
Ryan Moore with Mount Kilimanjaro (Nick Potts/PA)
O'Brien, speaking from his Ballydoyle stables, said: 'Ryan gave him a great ride.
'We always thought a mile and a quarter would suit him well. Earlier on in the year our plan was to run him in Dubai in their Derby.
'That was why we ran him at Dundalk when we did, but it was all coming too quickly so he didn't go, he just got tired in Dundalk and that is why he hasn't run since then.
'He's very comfortable at 10 furlongs, that is as far as he's been today on the grass, but when he ran in France last year behind Twain on heavy ground over a mile he looked like he was getting the trip well, so there's every chance he could get further.
'I think it will either be France or Epsom with him, there's still a lot than can happen over the next few days.'
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Ribot made his mark on his only visit to Britain (PA) Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest Flat racers of the post-war era, the unbeaten Italian champion made his one and only trip to Britain for the 1956 King George. The dual Arc winner used the Gran Premio di Milano as his prep race for the King George, which was set to be his hardest race to date. The going was sticky, and the 2-5 favourite looked uneasy at one stage, with jockey Enrico Camici urging him to go with the leaders. The pacemaker, Todrai, did his job and led Ribot into the straight but it was only in the last furlong that the champion showed his real worth. Some argued that the win was unimpressive; the horse's record, though, speaks for itself: 16 runs, 16 wins. NIJINSKY (1970) Nijinsky was a dominant victor (PA) Vincent O'Brien's Triple Crown winner was another easy winner of this great race. 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Such was the courage both horses had to show that not only did the race-record time stand until Harbinger in 2010, but neither managed to win again. SHERGAR (1981) Shergar won the King George during his exceptional three-year-old campaign (PA) Shergar is famous for being kidnapped and for winning the Derby by 10 lengths, and it is easy to forget that the legendary colt also won the Irish Derby and the King George in a memorable summer. He was a warm favourite to beat the older generation at Ascot. A surprisingly slow pace was set and initially the Aga Khan-owned colt was boxed in. But as the field straightened for home, Light Cavalry came off the rails and Walter Swinburn seized the opportunity to take the 2-5 favourite through the gap in style. The race was settled with two furlongs to run; he drew away to win decisively by four lengths from Madam Gay. 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Rated 141 at the time (somewhat controversially amended to 138 in 2013 but still the highest-rated King George winner), he possessed great speed, and a lightning turn of foot that left his rivals for dead. He started the King George as the 6-4 second-favourite, behind the 11-10 shot Shahrastani, who had beaten him in the Derby. With Pat Eddery on board, this time 'the Brave' took revenge, with his Epsom conqueror disappointing in fourth place. Dancing Brave went on to achieve further glory with a dazzling win in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the autumn. NASHWAN (1989) Nashwan added to his Guineas, Derby and Eclipse victories at Ascot (PA) Nashwan was a truly exceptional three-year-old. Trained by Major Dick Hern, he remains the only horse to have won the 2000 Guineas, Derby, Eclipse and King George in one season. It was a slow gallop for the seven-runner field in the King George, which soon developed into a tactical affair as Willie Carson sat and waited on Nashwan. It was not until the last two furlongs that the race truly developed, with Nashwan the first to commit, and he was soon joined by the Derby third, Cacoethes. They were locked together inside the final furlong and in a pulsating finish Nashwan showed he had the courage to match his undoubted class as he got home in front. MONTJEU (2000) Montjeu was in a different class at Ascot (Toby Melville/PA) Michael Tabor's Montjeu was undoubtedly the easiest winner of the King George for many a year. The 1999 Arc de Triomphe winner only had six rivals to beat, as the Classic generation stayed away. In truth, it was a sub-standard renewal – but it was never meant to be a walkover. However, it felt like one. Sent off at 1-3 – the shortest-priced favourite since Nashwan – he had 11lb plus in hand on official figures. Michael Kinane sat patiently on the colt, and when asked to quicken two furlongs out, the horse cruised home stylishly. Kinane did not need to do much; the horse guided him home that day. HARBINGER (2010) Harbinger turned the King George into a procession (Sean Dempsey/PA) Harbinger was an impressive winner of the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot but went to another level in the King George, where he produced a stunning performance to win by 11 lengths in a time bettering the one set by Grundy. Confront performed his duties as pacemaker for his stablemates Workforce and Harbinger and led until the home turn, at which point Epsom Derby hero Workforce and Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco tried to assert their authority. But they were merely sitting ducks for Olivier Peslier and Harbinger as they effortlessly took up the running inside the final two furlongs and rocketed clear. The handicapper raised him to from 123 to 135, making him the best in the world at the time but his career was cruelly cut short the following month when he shattered a cannon-bone in a routine spin on the gallops in Newmarket. In the wake of his retirement, Sir Michael Stoute was asked how much further Harbinger could have gone. 'Who knows?,' he wondered. 'If he had kept at that plateau, we'd have had a world champion.' ENABLE (2019) Enable (right) just got the better of Crystal Ocean in an epic finish (Julian Herbert/PA) The only three-time winner of the race, Enable hacked up from Ulysses in 2017 and completed her hat-trick in a substandard three-runner heat in 2020, but her middle victory was the stuff of legend. Having already bagged the Eclipse on her return to action, Enable was sent off the 8-15 favourite to regain her Ascot crown with injury preventing a title defence in 2018. Crystal Ocean had finished runner-up to Poet's Word in her absence and the race was widely expected to boil down to a duel between the top older horses. Few could have expected such an epic finish though, as the pair went toe-to-toe for the best part of two furlongs, with Crystal Ocean finding generously when it looked as though Enable would go on. It was nip and tuck all the way, but Enable just poked her head in front on the line to triumph by a neck, with future Arc winner Waldgeist just under two lengths back in third, with a further seven lengths back to the next home in what was a race for the ages.
