King George VI Chase Preview

One of the highlights of the British horse racing calendar, the King George VI Chase takes place on Boxing Day every year. We have seen some real classics over the years, and the nine that go to post in 2020 could well serve us up another encounter we won’t forget.

Of the nine runners, four are described as serious challengers and while the outsiders are certainly not discounted, it is only right that the four main horses are the ones we focus on here.

King George VI Race Preview

We begin with Clan Des Obeaux, the winner of this race for the past two years and he will either go off as favourite or second favourite on the day. This will come as no surprise to anyone who has seen him bolt up in this for the past two years, and his reappearance at Haydock went as good as could be expected for him at that track on the testing ground.

He comes here at his peak again, and unlike the other main contenders for this race, this is certainly his main target of the year, anything else after this race is simply a bonus.

Stablemate Cyrname is his main contender, these two will be first and second favourites in the race and this tussle in itself is a fascinating clash. The retained jockey to Paul Nicholls, Harry Cobden, chose to ride Cyrname in this back in November, so clearly has a lot of confidence to jump off a dual winner of the race for him.

We saw Cyrname confirm he can run over three miles on seasonal reappearance at Wetherby, this track is similar in that it is a sharp three miles that suits horses with a bit of speed, which he certainly has. This could be what sets him apart from the next two horses we talk about, who both have Gold Cup staying power on their side, not speed for a King George.

Santini was supplemented for the race just a couple of days ago and is an intriguing runner. There is no doubt he will come on for the run last time out, but this track and the sharp three miles here is not going to suit him, so it is intriguing that he comes here. Second in the Gold Cup last year shows this horse has class, but the test here is unlikely to be enough.

The same can be said about the last horse we are going to talk about, Lostintranslation, who was third in the Gold Cup last year. He was pulled up here though, struggling to get into the race due to the quicker pace of a contest around here.

That seems likely to find him out again, but what has to be said is that if Santini or Lostintranslation win this, they will do their Gold Cup chances a huge favour.

King George Betting Tip

We are going with Cyrname, who has stable confidence and showed he will get three miles last time out. He is a real speedster, and that can help him get home in front on Saturday.

• Cyrname to win – 2/1 with 888Sport