The British challenge for the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day was reinforced on Monday when Alan King, the trainer of Smad Place, confirmed that the Hennessy Gold Cup winner will now run in the highlight of the Christmas racing programme. The eight-year-old, who is one of 10 possible runners in Saturday’s race, is top-priced at 10-1 to become the first Hennessy winner to follow up at Kempton since Teeton Mill in 1998.
Like Teeton Mill, Smad Place is a strong, handsome grey gelding, and his victory at Newbury in November had echoes of another famous grey, as he overwhelmed his field from the front with a series of fine jumps in the style of Desert Orchid, a four‑times winner of the King George.
In the immediate aftermath of the Hennessy, King suggested that he planned to miss the Christmas programme and send Smad Place to the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham in late January. With Coneygree, the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner and another frontrunner, now absent through injury, however, there has been a change of direction.
“He schooled grand [this morning] and Wayne [Hutchinson, his big-race jockey] was very happy with him,” King said. “He’s been confirmed for the King George and, at this stage, everything is going according to plan.”
Paul Nicholls has won the King George seven times since Kicking King became the last Irish-trained winner of the race in 2005, including the last two renewals with Silviniaco Conti, but the ante-post betting for Saturday’s race is dominated by two runners from Ireland.
Don Cossack, the winner of the Grade One JNwine.com Champion Chase in October, is a 9-4 chance to give Gordon Elliott his first win in the race, while Vautour, at 3-1, will represent Ireland’s champion trainer, Willie Mullins. The leading contender from a British stable is Cue Card at 7-2, while Silviniaco Conti is 8-1 to complete a hat-trick.
Un De Sceaux, last season’s Arkle Trophy winner, is one of 11 possible runners in the Paddy Power So Quick So Easy App Chase at Leopardstown on Sunday. Willie Mullins’s seven-year-old missed his intended reappearance in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown this month because the trainer felt he was “a little flat”.
