Category: Big Races

The King George VI Chase is one of seven Grade 1 staying steeplechases run in Britain – three of which are restricted to novices – but, in terms of prestige, is second only to the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Unsurprisingly, the roll of honour reads like a Who’s Who of steeplechasing talent since World War II and features legendary names such as Arkle, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star.

Equally unsurprisingly, according to Timeform, all of the winners since the turn of the twenty-first century, so far, have been awarded a rating of 160 or more, placing them in the ‘high class’ category. In fact, all bar two of those winners were awarded a rating of 165 or more, placing them in the foremost ‘top class’ category. The two exceptions were, in fact, Thistlecrack and Might Bite, who won consecutive renewals of the King George VI Chase in 2016 and 2017 and were both rated 163 by Timeform analysts.

The 2016 renewal was run on going described as good, good to soft in places, but featured just five runners. Thistlecrack, trained by Colin Tizzard, arrived at the top of his game, having effortlessly won his first three starts over fences and, although still a novice, was sent off 11/10 favourite. He jumped well and easily drew away from the fourth-last fence to win, impressively, by 3¾ lengths, eased down. His winning time was 5 minutes and 53.50 seconds, or 0.50 seconds faster than the standard time.

The 2017 renewal was a slightly more competitive affair, featuring nine runners, although the RSA Novices’ Chase winner, Might Bite, trained by Nicky Henderson, was a strong favourite at 6/4. Might Bite had come a cropper at the final fence, when 18 lengths clear, in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase, run over the same course and distance as the King George VI Chase, the previous Boxing Day, but made amends in workmanlike style. Understandably, given the prevailing soft going, his winning time was 6 minutes and 6.60 seconds, or 12.60 seconds slower than the standard time.

Aside from the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the King George VI Chase is the most prestigious conditions chase in the British National Hunt calendar. The King George VI Chase was inaugurated in 1937, 13 years after the Cheltenham Gold Cup (as a steeplechase) but, remarkably, 15 horses have won traditional Boxing Day highlight more than once.

Halloween (1952, 1954) had the distinction of being the first dual winner of the King George VI Chase and also the dubious distinction of being placed in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1956, but never won the ‘Blue Riband’. Mandarin (1957, 1959), the inaugural winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup, was next up, but the spate of multiple winners, which has continued until the present day, really began in the Seventies.

Pendil (1972, 1973) and Captain Christy (1974, 1975) recorded back-to-back victories, as did Silver Buck (1979, 1980). Next came the first three-time winner, Wayward Lad (1982, 1983 and 1985), who was temporarily deposed, in 1984, by the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Burrough Hill Lad. Desert Orchid (1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990) – who was widely considered a doubtful stayer before his first, 15-length victory – subsequently usurped Wayward Lad as the most successful horse in the history of the King George VI Chase.

‘Dessie’ was followed by a another quartet of dual winners, in the form of The Fellow (1991, 1992), One Man (1995, 1996), See More Business (1997, 1999) and Kicking King (2004, 2005). Then, of course, came the days of five-time winner Kauto Star (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011), whose dominance was interrupted only by another dual winner, Long Run (2010, 2012). Silviniaco Conti (2013, 2014) and Clan Des Obeaux (2018, 2019) continued the tradition of multiple winners in the King George VI Chase and, with 2020 winner Frodon lining up again in 2021, a sixteenth such winner is a distinct possibility.

The simple answer is yes, it is. The Derby Stakes was co-founded, as a sweepstakes race for three-year-old colts and fillies, by Edward Smith-Stanley, Twelfth Earl of Derby, and Sir Charles Bunbury, Chairman of the Jockey Club, in 1780. The official ‘Racing Calendar’ stated that, on May 4 that year, the inaugural Derby Stakes was run ‘over the last mile of the course’ at Epsom.

Until fairly recently, it was widely believed that the ‘last mile’ referred to a straight mile, extending beyond the current 5-furlong start on a chute coming off Tattenham Corner at the top of the home straight. However, according to official Derby historian Michael Church, the ‘last mile’ actually referred to the last mile of the so-called ‘Orbicular Course’, onto which the Derby was transferred when it was extended from mile to a mile and a half in 1784. Thus, the sweeping, downhill turn into Tattenham Corner did not become a feature of the Derby until four years after the inaugural running. Indeed, it was close to the position of the mile marker on the old Orbicular Course that Jockey Club Racecourses, which owns Epsom Downs, erected a plaque to commemorate the starting point of the inaugural Derby.

The roll of honour for the King George VI Chase, which was inaugurated in 1937, reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of steeplechasing talent from Britain, Ireland and France since World War II. Consequently, unless you’re made of stone, rational, impartial comparison of winners from different generations is nigh on impossible. However, Timeform ratings are designed to allow exactly that, so – notwithstanding the fact that they’ve only been available since the early Sixties – they may be the best we can hope for.

Unsurprisingly, the ‘best’ King George VI Chase ever, according to Timeform, was Arkle, whose rating of 121 remains the highest awarded to any steeplechaser. Back in the days when the conditions of the King George VI Chase dictated that he conceded weight all ’round, Arkle won in 1965, trouncing Dormant by a distance and would have probably won again in 1966, but for fracturing the pedal bone in his off-fore during the race.

A direct contemporary of Arkle, by whom he was ultimately overshadowed, Mill House was hailed as the best steeplechaser since Golden Miller when running away with the Cheltenham Gold Cup, as a six-year-old, in 1963. He subsequently beat Arkle, who was receiving 5lb, in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury the following November and followed up in the King George VI Chase. His Timeform Annual Rating of 191 ranks him joint-second of winners of the Boxing Day spectacular during the Timeform era.

Mill House shares his position in the all-time list with the most successful horse in the history of the King George VI Chase, Kauto Star, who won five times between 2006 and 2011. The winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2007 and 2009, Kauto Star was, in the words of trainer Paul Nicholls, ‘once in a lifetime’. With apologies to Cottage Rake, who won the King George VI Chase in 1948, not to mention the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1948, 1949 and 1950, other contenders for the ‘best’ winners include Desert Orchid, Burrough Hill Lad and Long Run.