The King George VI Chase is one of the most anticipated races in the UK jump racing calendars and takes place the day after Christmas when racing punters are eager to bet on the race after a big Christmas dinner. This race has been won by some great chasers over the years and is a key race for trainers in the lead up to the Cheltenham Gold Cup chase in March at the festival.
Paul Nicholls, the leading trainer in the UK has won the race 11 times and loves this race to run his main chasers in. He first won the race with See More Business back in 1997 and then the same horse repeated the success in 1999. Arguably the greatest horse trained by Paul Nicholls has been Kauto Star who loved King George VI Chase as won the race five times. Next up was Silviniaco Conti who won this race in 2013 and 2014 and most recently Clan Des Obeaux who has won back to back King George VI chases in 2018 and 2019 and now going for a hat-trick.
King George VI Chase – Boxing Day – Kempton Park
King George VI Chase ran at Kempton Park is a Grade 1 chase over 3 miles for four-year-olds and over and is a true test of stamina, but with an incredible record in the race it’s hard to look past Paul Nicholls as he has horses primed for this race in his schedule.
King George VI Chase 2020 Preview
We have to start looking at this years by talking about Clan Des Obeaux. This 8-year-old horse trained by the master Paul Nicholls is set to start this new jump season with the hat–trick opportunity in the King George VI Chase. The current odds are 7/2 (4.5) + 350 on Clan Des Obeaux to win the race this year. It would be a great achievement for the horse to do the business again.
Next up and unsurprisingly is another one of Paul Nicholls top chasers in Cyrname. The horse won its first run of the new season with a very impressive of the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby and next up is another crack at the King George VI Chase. Last year Cyrname was runner up to Clan Des Obeaux so this year the horse will look to reverse the result. The odds for Cyrname to win the race are also 7/2 (4.5) +350 so both horses are joint-favourites.
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Another horse likely to have another attempt at winning this Grade 1 Chase is Lostintranslation. The Colin Tizzard horse has won 7 of 14 starts and ran a good race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March 2020 finishing third to Al Boum Photo. At odds of 6/1 (7.0) +600 to win the race, this would be a lot shorter if it wasn’t for Lostintranslation pulling up in the King George VI Chase last year.
Whether it was the ground on the day, Lostintranslation couldn’t compete in the final stage s of the race so there are doubts as to the horses stamina in this race, but punters could also look at the Cheltenham Gold Cup and think that this year can be different and the horse can last the distance and stop Paul Nicholls from winning. Lostintranslation is likely to have a preparation race before the King George VI Chase by running in the Betfair Chase and a win in this race will likely reduce the odds in the Boxing Day race.
Nicky Henderson has an interesting contender for the race in Champ. The horse won the RSA Chase over 3 miles at Cheltenham at the Festival and at 12/1 (13.0) +1300 in odds for King George VI Chase, Champ offers some value against Paul Nicholls two strong favourites. With a rating of 153, Champ is likely to attract some support in this Grade 1 race.
Looking ahead to the race, the likely winner should come from Paul Nicholls stable, but to pick one between Cyrname and Clan Des Obeaux will be difficult. Clan Des Obeaux has the perfect record at Kempton Park and that is likely to have the edge.
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