Coneygree, the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner who is expected to make his seasonal reappearance at Sandown on Sunday, has been left out of the entries for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. Normally, the midwinter championship would be thought an obvious possible target for a Gold Cup winner but the team behind Coneygree clearly have other plans in mind.
“He is going for the Hennessy,” the horse’s trainer, Mark Bradstock, told the Racing Post, referring to the Newbury handicap chase at the end of this month. “That is the race for him and anything else is a long way away.”
As a novice last season, Coneygree won a Grade One by 40 lengths over the same course and distance as the King George. In his absence, Vautour is currently the 11-4 favourite for the King George with Don Cossack next at 4-1.
