Will the Paul Nicholls’ stable be able to restore the King George glory?
The King George VI Chase remains to be one of the most interesting races of the National Hunt season not only because of its highly intriguing nature, but because it always brought the Nicky Henderson-Paul Nicholls rivalry into the brightest spotlight, however,
this time around it might lack that spark.
The major reason behind this would be the retirement of the King George VI Chase’s five-time champion, Kauto Star. Even after the retirement of the brilliant hurdler, the Paul Nicholls’ stable had to take their chances with the race that has been the forte
for the connections. His ace representative for the race, Al Ferof, has said good bye to the season due to an injury that could have proved fatal in case he had raced.
The stable is now dependent on the chances that the half-brother of the previous star, Kauto Stone. The tradition of the stable to win the race and the pedigree fashion of the five-time winning horse, Kauto Star, will now rest on the shoulders of Kauto Star.
"Long Run and Kauto Star currently head the market for the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup after their epic tussles in both the Betfair Chase and King George this season," said Betfred spokesman George Primarolo.
"However, Grands Crus is an extremely interesting entry and punters can now back David Pipe's novice safe in the knowledge that they will get their money back should the horse take up an alternative entry at the Festival."
The fans for sure will miss the headlines that read the names of the two colliding champions for years, however, the level of competition has not suffered the least bit as the race will feature the defending victor, Long Run, trained by, Nicky Henderson.
Another entry that cannot be ignored is the David Pipe trained, Grand Crus.
The yellow and purple colours of the stable will still be seen in the field, and the jockey of course too will be from the same stable, but the ride that will have to make all out for defending the prestigious title and restore the pride of the stable will
be different.
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