he was made 2-1 favourite for the king george vi and queen elizabeth stakes at ascot three weeks later. he ran up to his best form, taking the lead in the straight before finishing second to mtoto, ahead of the subsequent prix de l'arc de triomphe winner tony bin. in his final race of the year he finished fourth in the arc, beaten just over a length behind tony bin, mtoto and boyatino. in both the king george and the arc he finished well ahead of the other three-year-olds.