Simonsig, a horse many punters had started to write off as a likely runner in the King George VI Chase, is “on a steep upward curve but still has a good chance” of making the line-up, according to Charlie Morlock, assistant to the gelding’s trainer, Nicky Henderson, on Monday.
Henderson suggested in late November that it would be “a tall order” to expect Simonsig, who is unraced since winning the Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham in March 2013, to go straight to Kempton without a prep run. Speaking at a media event organised by William Hill to promote its sponsorship of the two-day King George meeting, however, Morlock offered a more positive update on Simonsig’s progress.
“He’s had some health issues but that’s all it’s been,” Morlock said. “There’s no mechanical problems. It’s well documented that he’s got a relatively sensitive airway and little things bug him. Unfortunately he seems to be one of those horses that more often than others pick up what’s going round.
“It’s all that’s held him up, and we’ve now got our foot firmly back in there and we’re doing everything to get him there in time. He’s proved that he stays two and a half miles [half a mile less than the King George trip], he’s got point-to-point form [at three miles], he’s got plenty of gears, doesn’t mind decent ground and a sharp three miles around Kempton should suit him. He’s been kept ticking over so he’ll have that core fitness, and a horse like him doesn’t need any more speed.”
Kempton’s executives will also be pleased to hear that Sprinter Sacre remains in the running for the Desert Orchid Chase on 27 December and Morlock expanded a little on why the stable decided to bypass his intended return to action in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown last weekend. Sprinter Sacre has not raced since being pulled up with an irregular heartbeat in last year’s Desert Orchid Chase.
“It’s a bit like Simonsig, he’s got plenty to do between now and then but the gloves are off and we’re going to get on with him,” Morlock said. “He’s a bit of public property and people would hang you from the beams if they thought you hadn’t checked every available thing but we’ve never found anything wrong with him.
“He always had a massive amount of wow factor [on the gallops]. He bowled you over even when he was doing a routine canter. All the other horses looked a bit like I would if I was jogging behind Sebastian Coe. He just had that aura and that’s what’s been slightly lacking.
“I think he’s on the way back. He had a pretty rotten experience 12 months ago and sometimes it takes horses a while to find their form again. A year is a long time but, if you take any top-class sportsman out of competitive sport for a lengthy period, it takes them a little while to get back into the groove. God willing, that’s all that’s really happening.”
Monday’s event also saw a rare public outing, away from the track at least, by Rich Ricci, whose horses have helped to make his trainer, Willie Mullins, the dominant force in Irish National Hunt racing. Mullins’ Champagne Fever, who will carry his colours in the King George, is currently the second-favourite for the race behind Paul Nicholls’ Silviniaco Conti, the winner 12 months ago.
Champagne Fever, like Simonsig, has yet to race at three miles over fences but Ricci does not expect stamina to be an issue on 26 December.
“Ruby Walsh [Champagne Fever’s jockey] is a great one for coming up with schemes and opportunities in the Punchestown parade ring,” Ricci said, “and he came up with the idea of the King George [after Champagne Fever was only sixth of eight at Punchestown in May]. He’s always been thought of as a stayer and I think he will stay.”
Mullins has just one previous victory in the King George, with Florida Pearl in 2001, and has enjoyed more success with hurdlers than chasers at Cheltenham in recent seasons, a point which Ricci feels will add to the trainer’s desire to win another King George.
“Willie thinks plan is a four-letter word,” Ricci says. “Whenever he texts the word to me, it’s a p and three stars, because he just likes to see how they go. But this has been a plan for a while. I think the chatter about his chasers not winning over here has gotten to him a bit, so I think he feels more motivated than usual to try to win something over here.
“If Fever is on his day, and hopefully keeping him fresh [since his seasonal debut in mid-November] will get him there on his day, he must have a chance. I thought when he ran [a close second in the Arkle Trophy] at Cheltenham [when a close second in the Arkle Trophy in March] that he was short of work.
“I had a conversation with Willie and Ruby after a long night and they thought that we did too much work on him and he just got tired. He might just have done too much, so this year, we thought we’d keep him fresher. He’s a young horse still, he’s certainly bred to stay and we have every hope that he will.”
Ricci’s outstanding young hurdler Faugheen, one of the favourites for the Champion Hurdle in March, will also be at Kempton on Boxing Day to contest the Christmas Hurdle. Among all the horses to carry his silks, though, Ricci feels Vautour, a novice chaser this season after a brilliant win in the Supreme Novice Hurdle last March, could be the best of all.
“Vautour floats my boat,” Ricci said. “He has the chance to be something really special. He was brilliant in the Supreme however you look at it, and very good on his [chasing] debut and hopefully will carry on with that. He could be extraordinary.”
Silviniaco Conti, who is “in the form of his life at the moment” according to Paul Nicholls, his trainer, is the narrow 3-1 favourite for the King George ahead of Champagne Fever at 4-1. Al Ferof, another contender from the Nicholls yard, is top-priced at 8-1 while Simonsig is 10-1 alongside Philip Hobbs’s Menorah and it is 12-1 bar.
