The Ladbrokes King George VI Chase is the mid-season championship in the UK for staying chasers. It also forms the second leg of the Jockey Club Racecourses’ £1 million bonus offered to any horse who completes the 2019-20 chasing triple crown.
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. .
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.
King George VI Chase Winners Last 10 Years
| 2008 | Kauto Star | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls | 8 | 11-10 | 10/11 F | |
| 2009 | Kauto Star | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls | 9 | 11-10 | 8/13 F | |
| 2010 | Long Run | Sam Waley-Cohen | Nicky Henderson | 6 | 11-10 | 9/2 2F | |
| 2011 | Kauto Star | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls | 11 | 11-10 | 3/1 2F | |
| 2012 | Long Run | Sam Waley-Cohen | Nicky Henderson | 7 | 11-10 | 15/8 F | |
| 2013 | Silviniaco Conti | Noel Fehily | Paul Nicholls | 7 | 11-10 | 7/2 3F | |
| 2014 | Silviniaco Conti | Noel Fehily | Paul Nicholls | 8 | 11-10 | 15/8 F | |
| 2015 | Cue Card | Paddy Brennan | Colin Tizzard | 9 | 11-10 | 9/2 3F | |
| 2016 | Thistlecrack | Tom Scudamore | Colin Tizzard | 8 | 11-10 | 11/10 F | |
| 2017 | Might Bite | Nico de Boinville | Nicky Henderson | 8 | 11-10 | 6/4 F | |
| 2018 | Clan Des Obeaux | Harry Cobden | Paul Nicholls | 6 | 11-10 | 12/1 |
- Trainer Paul Nicholls has won it 10 times since 1997 and Nicky Henderson has trained the winner three times in the last eight years. Colin Tizzard has won it twice in the same period.
- It’s usually worth noting any French-bred as they have been successful in 10 of the last 14 years.
- Most recent winners had already won a Grade 1 over the larger obstacles.
- Only one of the last 14 winners has been aged older than nine.
- Only one of the last 12 winners have started at bigger odds than 9/2.
- Only one of the last 12 winners hadn’t raced within the previous 44 days
Horse Racing Betting at Boylesports
The big guns stand their ground but there are just six runners in this year’s Ladbrokes King George VI Chase.
Cyrname and LOSTINTRANSLATION (15/8 with Betvictor) have been disputing favouritism for a while for the Boxing Day feature at Kempton, having made the perfect start to their respective campaigns on the same afternoon last month.
The Paul Nicholls-trained Cyrname inflicted a first defeat over jumps on top two-miler Altior in the Christy 1965 Chase at Ascot but Colin Tizzard’s seven-year-old proved himself a top-class staying chaser with victory over Haydock specialist Bristol De Mai in the Betfair Chase, the first leg of the £1 million triple crown.
That Betfair Chase has been a popular prep race for King George VI Chase winners in recent years and it looks like stamina could be at a premium at Kempton this year with Cyrname yet to prove himself at 3m, though his trainer is adamant he will stay and Kempton is the best track at which to put that theory to the test.
Nicholls also saddles last year’s winner Clan Des Obeaux as he bids to add to his record haul of 10 King George triumphs. He finished a fair second at Down Royal on his reappearance and that should have blown away any cobwebs.
Native River misses out this time but Tizzard also has a second string to his bow in Thistlecrack, who won the Kempton showpiece in 2016, finished fourth in 2017 and filled the runner-up spot behind Clan Des Obeaux 12 months ago.
Like Cyrname, Willie Mullins’s raider Footpad might struggle to last home over the longer trip with Aso also better over shorter distances.
King George VI Chase Current Best Odds
 |
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyrname | 13/8 | 11/8 | 13/8 |
| Lostintranslation | 7/4 | 15/8 | 15/8 |
| Clan Des Obeaux | 4/1 | 9/2 | 7/2 |
| Footpad | 9/1 | 9/1 | 10/1 |
| Thistlecrack | 16/1 | 16/1 | 16/1 |
| Aso | 40/1 | 66/1 | 40/1 |
(Odds were taken from Boylesports, Betfair & William Hill on December 23 at 12.15pm)
