Ladbrokes King George VI Chase |
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Grade 1, Kempton Park 15:15 £250,000 added, 4yo plus, 3m, Class 1 |
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Thursday 26th December 2019 |
1 Clan Des Obeaux 11/2
2
Cyrname 5/4F
3 Footpad 13/2
5 ran NR: Thistlecrack Distances: 21l, 5l, 2½l
Time: 6m 10.13s (slow by 16.13s)
Clan Des Obeaux wins the Boxing Day showpiece!
— Kempton Park (@kemptonparkrace) December 26, 2019
An eleventh King George for Paul Nicholls as Clan Des Obeaux notches up back to back wins in the race. A first King George for Sam Twiston-Davies! pic.twitter.com/CCXolSY0ik
Although only five runners went to post for the traditional Boxing Day feature, the race did not lack intrigue, with the defending champion Clan Des Obeaux taken on by his top-class stablemate Cyrname, Betfair Chase hero Lostintranslation, Irish raider Footpad and outsider Aso.
Having inflicted a first career defeat over jumps on Altior at Ascot last month, Cyrname was the well-backed 5-4 favourite, with Harry Cobden siding with him over Clan Des Obeaux.
After initially taking a lead from Aso, Cyrname adopted his customary prominent position at the head of affairs with over a circuit to go – and was still just about in front rounding the home turn.
However, 11-2 chance Clan Des Obeaux was travelling the better of the pair in the hands of Sam Twiston-Davies and pulled right away between the final two fences, winging the last to score by 21 lengths.
Cyrname boxed on to finish second and provide the champion trainer with a one-two, ahead of Footpad in third.
The big disappointment was the Colin Tizzard-trained Lostintranslation, who seemed to be struggling to keep tabs early on and was ultimately pulled up by Robbie Power, having briefly looked like he might play a part at one stage.
Ladbrokes King George VI Chase
£250,000 added, 4yo plus, 3m, Class 1
5 ran
Going: Soft
1 Clan Des Obeaux 7 11-10 Paul Nicholls Sam Twiston-Davies 11/2
2 21 Cyrname 7 11-10 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden 5/4F
3 5 Footpad 7 11-10 W P Mullins Barry Geraghty 13/2
4 2½ Aso 18 9 11-10 Venetia Williams Charlie Deutsch 28/1
PU Lostintranslation 7 11-10 Colin Tizzard Robbie Power 15/8
NR 6 Thistlecrack 11 11-10 Colin Tizzard NON RUNNER