King George VI Chase Guide 2021

The two-time winner of this race in 2018 and 2019 arguably arrives off the back of his most significant victories at the back end of last season.

Clan Des Obeaux ran away with the Betway Bowl at Aintree in April last season, winning by 26 lengths to re-assert himself as Britain’s leading staying chaser after having lost his King George crown last season.

However arguably his best career performance to date came in the Punchestown Gold Cup at the back end of last season, beating a two-time Gold Cup winner, and other multiple graded winning horses back in behind him.

He won by just under 2 lengths and asserted himself once again to be one of the best staying chasers in the game.

He loves Kempton (Winning two times out of four runs there) and especially enjoys this race, winning it twice previously both times in splendid fashion.

He always runs well fresh and will be primed for this race once again.

This race will have been the target all season for Clan Des Obeaux as Cheltenham isn’t his strong suit, and connections will be confident that he can land his third King George.

The impressive Gold Cup hero from last season, there has been a lot of support for Minella Indo ever since it was announced by Henry de Bromhead that it was all systems go for the feature race of the year at Kempton.

He boasts four wins in nine starts over the larger obstacles but did fall when favourite for last season’s Savills Chase around this time of the year and he was well fancied in that race, backed into favourite.

He also could only finish fourth in the Irish Gold Cup last season and was then third to Frodon in Down Royal’s Champion Chase in October this year, so is a horse that doesn’t particularly run two races the same and does look quite difficult to gauge.

But he did however look as if he needed the run when finishing 5 lengths behind Frodon last time out at Down Royal, and vibes from the yard are that he is doing very well at home with that run blowing the cobwebs away ready for the season ahead.

He is a horse that does normally look to need a run and then goes onto bigger and better things later on in the season.

The current forecasted good ground is no issue for him as he tends to suit any conditions, but the only doubt is whether a flatter three miles may suit slightly quicker horses, as his recent run at Down Royal suggested, he is a bit slower than some and needs a real test to be efficient at this sort of trip.

Just over two seasons into his career and Chantry House has still only been beaten twice under rules.

He has now won his last four starts over fences, including in Grade 1 novice events at the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree making him one of the better UK trained staying chaser’s last season.

He had a pipe opener in a two-runner race at Sandown in early November, winning with any amount in hand by 37 lengths eased down, beating The Big Breakaway.

He seems to improve with each run and looks a nice young staying chaser in the making for the Seven Barrows team who have had many nice chasing types in the past.

The seven-year-old will be spot on for Boxing Day’s big assignment and is a live contender to give Nicky Henderson a fourth success in the race.

This feature race has been synonymous with trainer Paul Nicholls in the past who has won the event a staggering twelve times and he has three runners in this renewal this year, including Frodon.

He landed last year’s renewal under regular rider Bryony Frost in fantastic style by just over 2 lengths, making the race his own with some slick jumping whilst making it a real test from the front end for the rest of the runners.

Frodon is certainly in a rich vein of form at present, after winning the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal last time out and still improves with each run the older he gets.

He will once again try and fend off all challengers in this season’s contest with his exuberant front running antics making it a real test for the others.

However, this year appears to be a more competitive field than he faced 12 months ago and perhaps he might come up short.

Irish trainer Willie Mullins has only tasted success in this Grade 1 showpiece once before and that was 20 years ago, and he brings Asterion Forlonge over this season hoping to break that 20-year duct.

There is hope that Asterion Forlonge can go close in this season’s renewal after powering clear of his rivals on his penultimate start at Punchestown to land a Novice Handicap Chase by 14l, he couldn’t have been any more impressive that day.

The seven-year-old has posted respectable efforts including when finishing third behind Chantry House in the Grade 1 Marsh Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival earlier last season before finding the frame once again in Grade 1 company at Fairyhouse in April.

However, he has been let down by his jumping abilities since racing over the larger obstacles and has failed to complete on three of his eight starts over fences, which makes him very unreliable especially in a top-class field like this.

The Colin Tizzard mount was sent off a short price in this race last year, and disappointed massively being pulled up with 4 left to jump.

He was reported to have burst a blood vessel that day and has had bleeding issues ever since and also might have occurred before that run.

The team however have done absolute wonders to get this horse back winning, as he was a ultra-impressive 4 length winner in the Pharma 1965 Chase at Ascot in November, looking back to his brilliant best that a lot of us were hoping he would do.

He did look to have fallen out of love with the game at the back end of last season (Form reads PU5PU in his last three runs before this season) after a fantastic 3rd place finish in the 2020 Cheltenham Gold Cup beaten by just only a length and a half.

It will be interesting to see how he fares in the betting for this season’s contest but there is still an obvious concern that we may have already seen the best of Lostintranslation and still comes with risks attached with the bleeding issues, but he is a talented horse and cannot be discounted easily.

Willie Mullins is also represented by Tornado Flyer who has only won two starts over fences and has found classier rivals too good on several occasions including in the Leopardstown Savills Chase in December 2020 when a well-beaten fifth, and a distant third in this seasons Ryanair Chase behind impressive stablemate Allaho.

The eight-year-old is yet to taste success at Grade 1 level and would be a surprise winner back up to 3miles for just the second time in his career.

He is still unexposed as a staying chaser, with his only other three-mile start coming in the rearranged Cotswold Chase at Sandown in February in which he unseated after stumbling at the railway fences.

That was the first fall of his career and is not too much of a concern.

He normally runs very well fresh so has that edge on his rivals, The only time he didn’t was when fourth in the King George last season.

However, that was a massive run and had he not pulled hard towards the front end, he may well have won. Still travelling best coming into the straight, his effort only bottomed out towards the last as he slowed down to finish fourth.

Now having his first run for Paul Nicholls, providing he can settle better than last season he has a chance of finishing in the placing, which would be a fantastic run considering the calibre of horse contesting in the race this year.

The second runner for Seven Barrows Mister Fisher will be returning from a 200 plus day break away from the track and may need the run after having a slight operation for an heart issue over the summer.

However, his trainer has hinted before that he will be suited by racing over three miles on a flat track and has shown that when running, looking to have Frodon’s measure when last seen at Sandown over an extended 2m6f back in April.

Nicky Henderson’s seven-year-old could well outrun his odds now stepping up to 3 miles for just the second time in his career, but his recent wellbeing from the operation and lack of run recently must be taken on trust.

But he is a talented horse on his day who his trainer has always thought a lot of in the past.