If you are a horse racing fan, Boxing Day means only one thing – the King George VI Chase at Kempton.
King George VI Chase History and Trends
The King George VI Chase was first run in 1937. Apart from a couple of years in which it was transferred to Sandown Park, it’s always been staged at Kempton. The race was named in honour of the new King, who himself was an enthusiastic National Hunt follower. But despite this, the race did not immediately catch the public’s imagination with the first two runnings only attracting fields of four runners.
However, after Halloween and the great Mandarin won in the Fifties, the race took off in terms of prestige. It’s now viewed as a mid-season championship for staying chasers, sandwiched between the Betfair Chase at Haydock and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. A £1million bonus is on offer for any chaser that wins all three races and Bristol De Mai is still on course having won the first leg of chasing’s new triple crown.
The roll of honour is a who’s who of British jumping with past multiple winners including Wayward Lad, Silver Buck, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star.
Trainer Paul Nicholls has won it nine times since 1997 and Nicky Henderson and Colin Tizzard have trained the winner twice in the last seven years. It’s usually worth noting any French-bred as they have been successful in nine of the last 12 years. Most recent winners had already won a Grade 1 over the larger obstacles but Thistlecrack did buck that particular trend last year. Only one of the last 13 winners has been aged older than nine. None of the last 11 winners have started at bigger odds than 9/2.
Disko and Outlander were the only two four-day entries not declared at the overnight stage which means there will be no Irish challengers this year and Paul Nicholls won’t be notching a 10th victory in this famous race but the Henderson and Tizzard yards have two runners each and each-way betting will be available if all stand their ground.
Might Bite is the general 11/8 favourite – but can that be classed as good value? Last season’s leading novice may well give the Henderson stable a third victory but he’ll probably have to make his own running. He had a heavy fall in the Kauto Star Novice Chase on the same day last year and still isn’t foot-perfect.
Thistlecrack (7/1 with Unibet) has questions to answer after weakening quickly on his reappearance over hurdles. He did win the race last year but had fewer rivals and that spark needs rediscovering – he may be a more potent threat in the Gold Cup in March. Whisper (a general 8/1) was twice beaten by Might Bite last season but always seems to run his race.
Fox Norton (7/1 with Betway) tries 3m for the first time. If he is going to stay the distance it will be around somewhere like Kempton but he was surprisingly turned over when odds-on for the Tingle Creek earlier this month.
BRISTOL DE MAI (widely available at 7/2) was easy to back on his reappearance in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby but travelled strongly throughout and showed plenty of tenacity to see off subsequent winner Blaklion with another subsequent winner in third. That suggested he’d improved markedly over the summer, a theory underlined when he won the Betfair Chase at Haydock in eye-catching fashion. Maybe second Cure Card isn’t the force of old but he’s a former winner of this race and the way he was put to the sword hinted that Nigel Twiston-Davies’ grey will continue to be a major factor in all the top staying races this season.
32Red King George VI Chase Latest Odds
Might Bite 11/8, Bristol De Mai 7/2, Thistlecrack and Fox Norton 7/1, Whisper 8/1, Tea For Two 25/1, Double Shuffle 80/1, Traffic Fluide 100/1
