King George VI Chase 2020

Kempton Park’s King George VI Chase, run every year on Boxing Day as part of their Christmas Festival, is a three-mile chase featuring 18 fences. Run at Grade 1 level, the King George Chase is considered to be second only to the Cheltenham Gold Cup in importance as far as staying chases go within the British National Hunt season.

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2020 King George VI Chase General Info

The Christmastime highlight of National Hunt horse racing, the King George VI Chase was first run in 1937 to celebrate the crowning of the UK’s last male monarch, King George VI. As the highlight of the Christmas Festival at Kempton Park run annually on Boxing Day (the opening day of a two-day meeting), this race marks the midway point of the jumps season. With an illustrious roll of honour containing a number of legendary multiple winners that gives the Cheltenham Gold Cup a run for its money, the King George is one of the most prestigious staying steeplechases in Britain.

Great jumpers including Arkle, Captain Christy, Pendil, Wayward Lad, Desert Orchid, See More Business, Kicking King and Kauto Star have all won the race more than once. Racehorses need speed as well as stamina to win with Kempton offering a very different test on its tight, right-handed track to the undulations of Cheltenham and the famous spruce covered fences of the Grand National course at Aintree. The King George VI Chase is the second leg of the Stayers’ Chase Triple Crown following the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park in November and the Gold Cup itself in March.

2020 King George VI Chase Runners (Updated: 21/12/2020)

A field of 10 horses featured in penultimate declarations for the 2020 King George VI Chase at Kempton. One of those is a supplementary entry. Trainer Paul Nicholls has a very strong hand indeed for a race he has dominated. Here are the King George VI Chase runners this year:

1. Black Op (Tom George)
2. Clan Des Obeaux (Paul Nicholls)
3. Cyrname (Paul Nicholls)
4. Frodon (Paul Nicholls)
5. Lostintranslation (Colin Tizzard)
6. Monalee (Henry De Bromhead, IRE)
7. Real Steel (Paul Nicholls)
8. Saint Calvados (Harry Whittington)
9. Waiting Patiently (Ruth Jefferson)
10. Santini (Nicky Henderson)

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Most bookmakers offer betting on the King George all year round. It is one of the final Grade 1 races in any calendar year in Britain. This is more than just a stepping stone to the Cheltenham Gold Cup, as the race is a valuable and prestigious one in its own right. If you are thinking of having an ante post bet on the King George VI Chase, remember that while on one hand you are likely to get much bigger odds, you are not guaranteed a run for your money.

That is the chance you take, but you can be sure that top National Hunt trainers will be aiming their best staying chasers at the race. While runners won’t be confirmed until much closer to Christmas, these are the fancied runners in the ante post market on the King George this year.

Clan Des Obeaux (11/2)

It comes as no surprise to find the betting headed by Clan Des Obeaux, winner of the King George in each of the last two seasons. Trained by Paul Nicholls, he is the latest multiple victor that first triumphed in the race at the end of his six-year-old year. A gelding by Kapgarde that is part-owned by legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Clan Des Obeaux usually needs his first run of the campaign.

Prior to winning the King George VI Chase for the first time in 2018, he was a fair fourth in the Betfair Chase. Clan Des Obeaux came on for that when holding previous race winner Thistlecrack by 1½ lengths and asserting in the final 100 yards of this Kempton Christmastime feature. Connections were dreaming of Gold Cup glory, and an impressive 11-length victory in the Grade 2 Denman Chase under a penalty at Ascot saw him sent off just 5/1 at the Cheltenham Festival.

Unlike Kempton, Cheltenham just isn’t the track for Clan Des Obeaux. He was only fifth in the 2019 Gold Cup and didn’t get up the hill. Clan Des Obeaux put in better efforts when runner-up in both the Betway Bowl at Aintree and the Down Royal Champion Chase on reappearance last season. A successful defence of his King George crown followed. Clan Des Obeaux truly made the race his own, outstaying stable companion Cyrname for an eased down 21-length victory.

Nicholls tried the Gold Cup with him again in 2020, but he faded badly to be eighth. Clan Des Obeaux has every right to head the King George betting at a standout 11/2 with bet365. The plan is to return to action in the Betfair Chase again, and that should put him spot on to complete his hat-trick at Kempton.

Lostintranslation (8/1)

Colin Tizzard is no stranger to success in the King George either. He saddled Cue Card (2015) and Thistlecrack (2016) to wins in the race in recent years, and Lostintranslation looks to continue that tradition. An eight-year-old gelding by stamina laden sire Flemensfirth, he was a revelation when first stepping up to staying trips in the spring of 2019.

Lostintranslation was a runner-up three times in Grade 1 company before a breakthrough at elite level when landing the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during the Grand National Festival at Aintree. He took the scalp of 2019 RSA Novices’ Chase scorer Topofthegame, quickly coming clear for a six-length success. Tizzard used a Listed intermediate event at Carlisle to get Lostintranslation ready after a summer off.

That reappearance run blew away any cobwebs and he took a second Grade 1 under an ice cool ride from regular jockey Robbie Power in the Betfair Chase. Lostintranslation was held up well off the pace, but jumped into second place four out. He travelled strongly when switched on by his rider and stayed on well for a 1½ lengths victory over Haydock specialist Bristol De Mai.

The only concern about subsequent Gold Cup third Lostintranslation for the King George is his performance in it last year. He was sent off at odds of 15/8 but ran no race at all and got pulled up. While he has since had a wind operation to help his breathing and shaped much better when just 1½ lengths behind Al Boum Photo in the Gold Cup, caution is advised over general ante post odds of 8/1.

Cyrname (7/4)

Despite bombing out in the last year’s King George VI Chase, Cyrname is back for another go after proving his stamina. One of four entries representing the race’s winningmost trainer Nicholls, he resumed winning ways after suffering defeat to Clan Des Obeaux 12 months ago and falling in the Ascot Chase. Cyrname put those disappointments behind him on his return to action in the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby. There were lots of questions for him to answer there, but critics were silenced.

Could Cyrname be as effective on a left-handed track? Yes, he could. Would Cyrname stay three miles? Yes, he did. That ready three-mile success set him up for another crack at King George glory. The race very much looks handler Nicholls’ to lose, it’s just a matter of which horse will cross the line first. Cyrname is officially the highest rated steeplechaser in training, so in theory it should be him. In practice, things may be quite different but bookmakers are certainly wary of him putting in a much better showing in the 2020 King George VI Chase than last year.

King George VI Chase Betting Offers

King George VI Chase Stats & Trends

Since 2000, five King George Chase winners have gone on to land the Gold Cup at Cheltenham proving that it takes a top-class chaser to win this, the average SP of the last 19 winners being 4/1 despite a couple of 12/1 and 25/1 winners. Taking out those longshots in fact leaves the average SP at less than 5/2, so don’t look too far down the list.

While looking at trends and statistics doesn’t guarantee you will find the King George VI Chase winner, you can make better informed betting decisions by knowing what they are. A total of 14 different horses have won the race more than once. The same trainers target the King George year after year, so it is worth bearing the following in mind:

• Most successful horse – None other than the mighty Kauto Star who won dominated the race in the second half of the 2000s. He landed a record fifth King George VI Chase crown aged 11 in 2011.
• Leading jockey – Ruby Walsh partnered Kauto Star to all five of his triumphs. We may never see their like again.
• Leading trainer – Paul Nicholls is by far and away the most successful trainer in the storied history of this race. He has sent out the King George winner from his Ditcheat stables in Dorset a record 11 times. What is incredible is those success have come with just four different horses: See More Business (1997 and 1999), Kauto Star (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011), Silviniaco Conti (2013 and 2014), and Clan Des Obeaux (2018 and 2019).
• Leading owner – Clive Smith owned Kauto Star throughout his National Hunt career in the British Isles and is thus the most successful owner in the history of the King George VI Chase.
• Age – As the same horses keep turning up in the race, an age profile is trickier than other events but, with a few notable exceptions, concentrating on those aged between six and nine produces the vast majority of victors. Three of the last six King George winners were eight-year-olds, so concentrating your efforts there when betting could pay off.

Betting Offers

With a race as big as the King George VI Chase, you can be sure there will be bonuses and promotions relating to it. As this event takes place over Christmas, check back during the festive period to find more details of all the 2020 available King George offers.

For all horse racing punters out there, we’ve reviewed and rated horse racing betting sites and their new customer offers available all year around. Make sure to take advantage of some of the most generous bonuses.

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Past King George VI Chase Winners

Despite a poor reappearance run at Haydock, much was expected of RSA Chase winner and Gold Cup runner-up Might Bite who went off 3/1 favourite for the 2018 King George at Kempton, with Native River and Politologue not far behind at 9/2 and 5/1.

Despite being an outsider at 12/1, Paul Nicholls had said in interviews that there was likely more to come from his Clan Des Obeaux and the six-year-old duly obliged with a taking performance to land the spoils by 1½ lengths from previous winner Thistlecrack. Here are all the King George VI Chase past winners from 2010 onwards with how they fared at the following Cheltenham Festival: