The King George VI Chase Preview

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First run in 1937, the King George VI Chase was named after the then newly crowned British Monarch. The King George is the feature race of the festive racing action on offer, accompanied by both the Christmas Hurdle and Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on the same day at Kempton Park.

The King George in its 71 renewals, has seen its fair share of outstanding performances and historic battles, none more so than the 5-time winner of the race Kauto Star (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011), as well as the 4-time winner and nationwide hero Desert Orchid (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990).

In more recent years, the King George has more than lived up to expectations, with the mouth-watering clash commencing between Cue Card and Vautor in 2015, as well as the dominance of the Novice Thistlecrack just a year later. Clan Des Obeaux however, has been the King George star in more recent years, winning the race back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 for the Paul Nicholls team.

Runner by runner guide:

Bravemansgame

This year’s Charlie Hall Chase winner, and last season’s winner of the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase is favourite Bravemansgame.

He won the Charlie Hall Chase with ease in October, in what was his seasonal reappearance and only outing this year, beating Eldorado Allen by 3 ½ lengths when going away. He faced defeat just once last season, which was when he was a disappointing fourth of four in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree.

However, the ease at which he won the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby more than impressed the racing public, placing him as short as 7/4 to make it two out of two for the season in the King George, which would firmly stamp his name into the Cheltenham Gold Cup market.

L’Homme Presse

Last season’s winner of the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham for the Venetia Williams yard is L’Homme Presse. He came home an impressive 3 ½ length winner that day, with 2022 King George rival Ahoy Senor in behind.

L’Homme Presse however, failed to repeat this form in the Mildmay at Aintree a month later, where he was third of four, with Ahoy Senor reversing the form on that occasion.

His only start this season was a winning one, scoring by a length in the Betfair Exchange Rehearsal Handicap Chase when carrying top weight, showing his rather short odds for this race are most definitely justifiable.

Hitman

Yet another serious contender for the Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls’ team is the 6-year-old Hitman. He was seen last season finishing second in both the Betfair Tingle Creek and the Marsh Chase at Cheltenham.

This season however, despite finishing second yet again on his seasonal reappearance in the Old Roan Chase, he has managed to find his way back to the front, winning very impressively by 11 lengths in the Betfair Graduation Chase at Haydock last time out, making him a serious contender in what is a step up in class.

Envoi Allen

One of the most exciting runners in this race for me, has to be Envoi Allen. Having won 12 in a row for trainer Gordon Elliot, most notably winning the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle in indefectible style, he moved to trainer Henry De Bromhead shortly before the Cheltenham Festival of 2021.

He was a faller at the fourth in the Marsh Novices’ Chase, and was subsequently pulled up in the Champion Novices Chase at Punchestown later that month, casting a slight doubt over his ability.

He seemingly bounced back to similar form the season after however, winning the Paddy Rewards Club Chase (Grade 1) in nice fashion, before finishingthird in both the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham, as well as the William Hill Champion Chase at the Punchestown festival.

He made his seasonal reappearance at the beginning of last month, winning the Ladbrokes Champion Chase (Grade 1) comfortably, placing himself right there in the market for this year’s renewal of the King George.

Eldorado Allen

Despite being aged just 8, the Joe Tizzard trained Eldorado Allen has run in more than his fair share of high class and competitive races, proving to be a real stalwart for the Tizzard team.

He made his seasonal reappearance when finishing a comfortably beat, yet still impressive second behind Bravemansgame in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby in October.

He was seen last year winning the high-class Grade 2 Betfair Denman Chase at Newbury, where he beat the likes of Clan Des Obeaux and Royale Pagaille in nice fashion.

He was also a respectable third in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham however, he was well beat on his final start of last season, finishing 7th in the Betway Bowl Chase at Aintree.

Nevertheless, his consistent form shows he has more than the credentials to be a serious competitor in the field, looking to repeat the feats of Thistlecrack and Cue Card in wining for the Tizzard Team.

Royale Pagaille

The Ventia Williams trained Royal Pagaille is a previous winner of the Betfair Chase, as well as two-time winner of the Peter Marsh Handicap Chase. However, his last Peter Marsh victory in January, is his most recent race win, for he finished second in the Denman Chase behind Eldorado Allen in February, and then fifth twice in both the Gold Cup and Betway Bowl, meaning an improvement is needed in his performances to cause a challenge to the field on Boxing Day.

Frodon

The remarkable Frodon will be seen yet again in the King George this year around, and is set to be partnered by best mate Bryony Frost, recently returning from a period of time on the side lines.

The 10-year-old legend has run at a consistently high level for years, and is of course a previous winner of both this race in 2020, as well as the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham.

However, his most recent effort saw him finish a well beat 3rd of 5 in the Betfair Chase at Haydock, where he was just over 7 lengths behind the second in the race, and 2022 King George rival Eldorado Allen.

It would take an extraordinary rejuvenation to overcome the odds-on Boxing Day this time around however, if we know anything about this incredible partnership, it is to never write them off.

The final two runners at a larger price in the field is the Lucinda Russell trained Ahoy Senor and the Alex Hales trained Millers Bank. Ahoy Senor was last seen finishing third behind a flying home Noble Yeats in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree.

That was his second start of the season however, for he was a disappointing fifth of five in the Charlie Hall Chase won by Bravemansgame in October.

Despite his rather uninspiring form this season, last season was far from that, winning the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree, in which he beat the short priced in this race L’Homme Presse.

Furthermore, he was the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase runner up on this card last year, as well as runner up in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, past form that suggests he has the capabilities to more than outrun his very large odds.

Millers Bank, alike Ahoy Senor, has seemingly lost some of his form in more recent runs, with him being unable to win a race since his Manifesto Novices’ Chase victory at the Aintree Festival.

This season, he began by unfortunately unseating rider Keilan Woods at the first fence in the Old Road Chase, and has run a subsequent second in both the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase and The Fitzdares Peterborough Chase, meaning a measurable step up in his performance is required to cause any sort of danger to the others in the field.