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| Late Chris-mas Present - 2012 runner-up Captain Chris looks a big price for the King George |
The King George is always a fabulous Boxing Day treat and is as much of a Christmas tradition for racing enthusiasts as awful jumpers and family arguments.
More so than getting that one present you really wanted finding the winner of the three mile contest can really make your Christmas.
In spite of the absence of the great Kauto Star last year’s renewal still delivered a cracker as Long Run and Captain Chris fought out an extremely narrow finish.
The latter horse has run creditably in defeat in this race two years in a row now and as the market currently stands he looks the value bet in the race to me as he aims to go one better than last year.
I always say this sounds like a ridiculous thing to say about an Arkle winner but Captain Chris is a completely different animal these days going right-handed than he is going left.
Given that this race is likely to be his seasonal goal and though he missed his intended reappearance at Ascot you’d think his handler Philip Hobbs will have him spot on for a race he clearly enjoys.
He’s a strong stayer now and will handle heavy going – he has outstayed tired horses in this the two years past and he is still quite lightly raced for a nine year old meaning we may not even have seen the best of him just yet.
He’s come in slightly in the market this week but still looks overpriced to me at 20/1 especially from an each way perspective. He’s been placed in arguably hotter renewals of this for the last two seasons so why not again in one that as it stands looks like it could be a slightly easier contest to make the frame in.
Cue Card rightfully heads the betting after his Betfair Chase romp but he’s far too short now for a race he capitulated badly in twelve months ago.
Dynaste could be the one having hacked up in the Feltham on this card last year and ran an exceptional race to finish second behind Cue Card at Haydock but he too is now quite short in the betting.
Pricewise selection Al Ferof has also seen his price plummet and though I fancied him for this last season before his injury I wasn’t overly impressed with his reappearance in spite of the race’s farcical nature and thus he makes little appeal at his current odds.
Long Run will need to show me something now before I could back him again after his two runs this season, while I have my suspicions that his Cheltenham fall may have taken something out of Silviniaco Conti and it will be interesting to see which the perceived Nicholls first string turns out to be in this.
Of the other suspected participants Mount Benbulben is the only other one that looks worth mentioning, and prior to his Down Royal effort I’d been quite keen on him for this.
The fact he fell isn’t what is now putting me off though it’s that he looked beat a long way out before coming down and I’m now happy to bypass him in what will be a far more competitive race even with a pipe-opener under his belt.
If Captain Chris had a run under his belt I’d be a lot happier but I think that is factored in to the price and 20/1 about a horse that’s been second and third in this the last two years, beaten only by Long Run and Kauto Star, is simply too big.
Recommendation:
0.5pt each-way Captain Chris @ 20/1 (Bet365, Bet Victor, Stan James)
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