Monday’s King George VI Chase will have a maximum of seven runners, the news that Thistlecrack will line up alongside his stablemate Cue Card having perhaps scared away potential opposition. Vroum Vroum Mag and Valseur Lido will both stay in Ireland, having been withdrawn at Tuesday’s entry stage for the Boxing Day contest.
The Irish challenge could be weakened still further, as Road To Riches’s participation is in the balance.
Noel Meade’s chaser is recovering from an operation to correct his “kissing spines” and his work this week will determine whether or not he travels for a race in which the bookmakers rate him a 28-1 shot.
“He’s going to work in the morning and we’ll see where we are after that,” Meade said. “I’d say it’s 50-50 at this stage and we’ll probably leave it until declaration day.”
Meade said he hoped the horse would either run in the King George or the Irish equivalent, the Lexus at Leopardstown two days later. “He’s been good and we’ve been happy with what he’s been doing at home. There’s not many in it [the King George], but there are no bad ones, are there?”
Cue Card remains favourite at 11-8 for what would be a second consecutive success in the midwinter championship race, with Thistlecrack just an eighth of a point bigger on 6-4. The remaining five are available at 14-1 or bigger, starting with Josses Hill, who was supplemented into the race on Monday at a cost of £10,000.
Tea For Two is expected to give Lizzie Kelly a ride in the race, a year on from their success in the Grade One novice chase on the same card. Silviniaco Conti remains in the field but is 25-1, having seemingly lost some ability since winning the race in 2013 and 2014. Roi Des Francs, the only other potential runner, is rank outsider at 66-1.
