King George VI Tips 2020

FREE professional horse racing tips for the King George VI Chase at the Ladbrokes Christmas Festival Meeting at Kempton Park.

Get professional tipster Keith Bond's FREE tips for all the races…

Get professional tipster Keith Bond's FREE tips for all the races…

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PLUS: you'll also get our FREE Ladbrokes Christmas Festival magazine

When is The King George VI Chase 2020?

The King George VI Chase is the highlight of the Ladbrokes Christmas Festival at Kempton Park.  It is scheduled to take place as usual on Boxing Day, at 3pm, the feature race of the day.

Established in 1937, this race is named after the newly crowned monarch, King George VI.  It is a Grade 1 Steeple Chase run over a distance of about 3 miles.  Open to horses aged 4 years and older, the King George VI Chase is the second most prestigious race in England and as such, you are in for a real treat with only the best horses taking part.  This is backed by the fact that no less than 15 horses have won the race more than once, and the mighty Kauto Star winning it an impressive 5 times!

The winner of the race last year won £142375 a pretty impressive prize for the winner.

 

Records

The leading jockey for this race is the one that rode the most successful race horse for this race.  The combination of Ruby Walsh and Kauto Star won the race 5 times, in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011.

The leading trainer, Paul Nicholls, also trained Kauto Star, but also had winners in another 6 races, taking his tally to 11 wins.  All of them won more than once:

See More Business (1997 & 1999)

Kauto Star (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2011)

Silvinianco Conti (2013 & 2014)

Clan Des Obeaux (2018 & 2019)

King George VI Chase Previous Winners

Note the King George VI Chase was run at Sandown in 2005

Date Track Distance Going Runners Winner Stallion Age Jockey (Clm) Trainer Odds Weight OR NC(F) Days
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 9 8 20/1 11-10 168 1(1) 21d
Kempton 3m Soft 5 7 11/2 11-10 169 0(0) 54d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 10 6 12/1 11-10 160 0(0) 32d
Kempton 3m Soft 8 8 6/4 11-10 162 1(1) 44d
Kempton 3m Good 5 8 11/10 11-10 0 0(0) 30d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 9 9 9/2 11-10 172 1(0) 35d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 10 8 15/8 11-10 174 1(1) 34d
Kempton 3m Soft 9 7 7/2 11-10 173 1(1) 33d
Kempton 3m Heavy 9 7 15/8 11-10 172 0(0) 32d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 7 11 3/1 11-10 174 4(2) 37d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 9 6 9/2 11-10 162 0(0) 63d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 13 9 8/13 11-10 186 2(1) 35d
Kempton 3m Good 10 8 10/11 11-10 175 2(1) 34d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 7 7 4/6 11-10 179 1(1) 32d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 9 6 8/13 11-10 173 1(1) 24d
Sandown 3m½f Good 9 7 11/8 11-10 0 2(1) 37d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 13 6 3/1 11-10 0 2(1) 21d
Kempton 3m Good 12 11 25/1 11-10 169 2(1) 36d
Kempton 3m Soft 10 7 11/8 11-10 170 0(0) 33d
Kempton 3m Good 8 9 8/1 11-10 0 1(1) 17d
Kempton 3m Good To Soft 9 7 5/2 11-10 0 0(0)
Kempton 3m Soft 9 9 5/2 11-10 170 3(1) 58d
Kempton 3m Soft 9 9 7/2 11-10 156 0(0) 28d
Kempton 3m Soft 8 7 10/1 11-10 0 1(1) 20d

 

Keith has poured over the stats from previous King George VI races and has found some interesting trends for you below:

12 Year Trends and Statistics (2010 was run in January 2011)

  • Age – 11 of the last 12 winners were aged between 6 and 9.
  • Sex – 9 of the last 12 winners were geldings. Just 1 mare has taken part in this time.
  • Trainer – Three trainers have monopolised the race in the last 12 years, Paul Nicholls has saddled 7 winners Nicky Henderson 3 and Colin Tizzard 2.
  • Country – 9 of the last 12 winners were bred in France, 2 in Great Britain and 1 in Ireland.
  • Colour – 6 of the last 12 winners were bay, 4 were bay/brown.
  • Weight Carried – All of the last 12 winners carried 11st 10lb. All geldings run off this weight, mares carry 7lb less.
  • Starting Price Rank – 6 of the last 12 winners started as favourite and 11 were in the first 3 in the betting.
  • Headgear – 11 of the last 12 winners wore no headgear.
  • Days Since Last Run – All of the last 12 winners had run between 21 and 75 days ago. 
  • Last Run Form –6 of the last 12 winners had won last time out, all of them finished in the first 4 last time.

King George VI Chase Tips

The 2020 King George VI Chase is racing of the highest quality and trainer Paul Nicholls looks to have all the aces saddling both the highest rated chaser currently in training CYRNAME and, the winner for the last 2 renewals, CLAN DES OBEAUX. CLAN DES OBEAUX beat CYRNAME by 21 lengths in last year's race, but, CYRNAME won last time at Wetherby in some style while CLAN DES OBEAUX had a hard race through the Haydock mud when runner up to BRISTOL DE MAI. Is the race just between these 2 runners though, unfortunately the Irish challenge won't materialise due to the travel ban but SANTINI has been suplimented for the race by Nicky Henderson and will be their to pick up the pieces if either or even both the Nicholls horses fail to fire on the day.

Keith's Selection

CYRNAME 15:00 Kempton 11/4 – Paul Nicholls looks to have all the aces saddling both the highest rated chaser currently in training CYRNAME and, the winner for the last 2 renewals, CLAN DES OBEAUX. CLAN DES OBEAUX beat CYRNAME by 21 lengths in last year's race, but, CYRNAME won last time at Wetherby in some style while CLAN DES OBEAUX had a hard race through the Haydock mud when runner up to BRISTOL DE MAI. It is on the strength of those runs last time out that I am all in on CYRNAME as he had an easer time than CLAN DES OBEAUX and a longer period to recover.

How we got on

CYRNAME was never traveling and eventually pulled up, no explanation was given for the poor perfomance. Another  Paul Nicholls runer the gusty FRODON made all to win at 20/1 under Bryony Frost.

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King George VI Chase Results

Ladbrokes King George VI Chase (Grade 1) (GBB Race)
Distance: 3m (5280 yards) Prize (winner): £116178 Direction: Right Handed
Runners: 9    Going: Good To Soft    Class: Class 1 Grade 1    Age Restrictions: 4yo+
Winners Time: 6 mins 1.30s   Avg OR: 166     Median OR: 168

Full Results:

No Place Dist Bt Horse Age Weight Headgear OR Trainer Jockey (Claim) Odds BF BFP
4 1st Frodon (FR) 8 11-10 TT 168 Nicholls, P F Frost, Bryony 20/1 21.82 4.93
occasionally jumped left, made all, ridden clear between last 2, stayed on strongly, unchallenged BF IP MIN 1.01 BF IP MAX 28
9 2nd 2.25 Waiting Patiently (IRE) 9 11-10 CkPc 163 Jefferson, Ruth Hughes, Brian 12/1 18.01 3.82
waited with in rear and raced keenly, steady headway on in 6th and plenty do 3 out, 3rd between last 2, went 2nd at the last and kept on run-in, given too much to do BF IP MIN 2.64 BF IP MAX 1000
2 3rd 6 Clan Des Obeaux (FR) 8 11-10 171 Nicholls, P F Twiston-Davies, Sam 85/40 (Fav) 3.40 1.57
waited with towards rear, headway chasing leaders before 4 out, pushed along before next, went 3rd final strides BF IP MIN 3 BF IP MAX 1000
7 4th NK Saint Calvados (FR) 7 11-10 167 Whittington, H Sheehan, Gavin 14/1 17.67 3.94
raced keenly in mid-division, headway chasing leaders 7th, went 2nd 4 out, pushed along before next, held when went left 2 out, went left and lost 2nd at the last, lost modest 3rd final strides BF IP MIN 3 BF IP MAX 1000
8 5th 1.5 Santini 8 11-10 CkPc 172 Henderson, N J Boinville, Nico 9/2 6.18 2.11
tracked leaders, tracked winner 2nd until mistake 4 out, weakened before 2 out, BF IP MIN 3.7 BF IP MAX 1000
1 6th 7.5 Black Op (IRE) 9 11-10 TT 147 George, T R Scudamore, Tom 66/1 70.90 8.20
chased winner until 2nd, lost place and in mid-division after, headway chasing leaders before 10th, weakened 4 out BF IP MIN 42 BF IP MAX 1000
3 PU Cyrname (FR) 8 11-10 TT 176 Nicholls, P F Cobden, Harry 5/2 3.68 1.79
mid-division, reached for 14th, weakened soon after, tailed off and pulled up before 3 out BF IP MIN 3.35 BF IP MAX 1000
5 PU Lostintranslation (IRE) 8 11-10 TT 171 Tizzard, C L Power, R M 17/2 11.30 2.89
chased leaders on inside, pushed along after 11th, ridden and weakened 13th, tailed off and pulled up before 3 out BF IP MIN 7.6 BF IP MAX 1000
6 PU Real Steel (FR) 7 11-10 TT 163 Nicholls, P F Jacob, Daryl 22/1 33.49 5.44
held up in last pair, hit 10th, headway on inside chasing leaders and pushed along before 3 out, weakened quickly and pulled up before 2 out BF IP MIN 11 BF IP MAX 1000

Ladbrokes King George VI Chase (Grade 1)
Distance: 3m (5280 yards) Prize (winner): £142375 Direction: Right Handed
Runners: 5    Going: Soft    Class: Class 1 Grade 1    Age Restrictions: 4yo+
Winners Time: 6 mins 10.13s   Avg OR: 170     Median OR: 169

Full Results:

No Place Dist Bt Horse Age Weight Headgear OR Trainer Jockey (Claim) Odds BF BFP
2 1st Clan Des Obeaux (FR) 7 11-10 169 Nicholls, P F Twiston-Davies, Sam 11/2 7.32 2.46
tracked leaders, went 2nd 11th, challenged going well 3 out, led next, soon clear, very easily BF IP MIN 1.01 BF IP MAX 8.4
3 2nd 21 Cyrname (FR) 7 11-10 TT 177 Nicholls, P F Cobden, Harry 5/4 (Fav) 2.48 1.61
tracked leader, led 5th, went left and headed 2 out, soon no chance with winner, finished tired BF IP MIN 1.7 BF IP MAX 1000
4 3rd 5 Footpad (FR) 7 11-10 165 Mullins, W P Geraghty, B J 13/2 8.05 3.70
held up in close 5th, headway into 3rd after 4 out, pushed along and one pace before next, ridden and no impression between last 2 BF IP MIN 4 BF IP MAX 1000
1 4th 2.5 Aso (FR) 9 11-10 166 Williams, Miss Venetia Deutsch, Charlie 28/1 44.96 10.00
led, mistake 4th, headed next, chased leader, hit 1th, lost 2nd next, chased leaders, outpaced and weakened 4 out, went modest 4th before next BF IP MIN 29 BF IP MAX 1000
5 PU Lostintranslation (IRE) 7 11-10 173 Tizzard, C L Power, R M 15/8 3.10 1.69
bit keen, tracked leaders, dropped to rear at 4th, rallied chasing leaders when mistake 13th, reached for 4 out, weakened and behind when pulled up before 3 out BF IP MIN 2.5 BF IP MAX 1000

Non Runners  Thistlecrack, Scoir Mear (IRE), Blazer (FR), Punches Cross (IRE), Agusta Gold (IRE)

Ladbrokes Christmas Festival Race Cards

Ladbrokes Christmas Festival – Kempton Racecourse:

 

Saturday 26th December

King George VI Chase Day

TIME RACE DISTANCE  
12:40pm THE LADBROKES WATCH RACING ONLINE FOR FREE NOVICES' HURDLE RACE 2 miles  
1:15pm THE PLAY LADBROKES 5-A-SIDE ON FOOTBALL NOVICES' LIMITED HANDICAP STEEPLE CHASE 2 miles 4 furlongs  
1:50pm THE LADBROKES KAUTO STAR NOVICES’ STEEPLE CHASE 3 miles  
2:25pm THE LADBROKES CHRISTMAS HURDLE RACE (GRADE 1) 2 miles  
3:00pm THE LADBROKES KING GEORGE VI STEEPLE CHASE (GRADE 1) 3 miles  
3:35pm THE GET YOUR LADBROKES DAILY ODDS BOOST HANDICAP HURDLE RACE 2 miles 5 furlongs

Sunday 27th December

Desert Orchid Chase Day

TIME RACE DISTANCE  
12:45pm THE LADBROKES DAILY ODDS BOOSTS INTRODUCTORY JUVENILE HURDLE RACE 2 miles  
1:20pm THE LADBROKES WAYWARD LAD NOVICES’ STEEPLE CHASE (GRADE 2) 2 miles  
1:55pm THE LADBROKES MARES’ HANDICAP HURDLE RACE 3 miles 1/2 furlong  
2:30pm THE LADBROKES DESERT ORCHID STEEPLE CHASE (GRADE 2) 2 miles  
3:05pm THE LADBROKES WATCH RACING ONLINE FOR FREE HANDICAP STEEPLE CHASE 3 miles  
3:40pm THE PLAY LADBROKES 5-A-SIDE ON FOOTBALL HANDICAP HURDLE RACE 2 miles

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