King George VI Chase 2014 Ante Post Preview

Fill Your Boots - Ma Filleule is the value call in the King George

One of the tropes of the festive season is that after weeks of build-up and anticipation the big moment comes and goes in a matter of minutes, and much like that dawn start on Christmas morning for an excitable child the King George will be over in a flash on a Boxing Day but it will hopefully leave us with that warm wintery glow if we can find the winner.

The world of ante-post betting is rapidly becoming a thing of the past sadly, with most firms pushing favoured horses out to prices greater than they’ve been in the build-up to the race come race day morning.

Current market leaders, and the most likely winners, Silviniaco Conti and Champagne Fever will both almost certainly be available at a similar price or bigger come the day of the race so for the purposes of this preview will be passed over.

The Willie Mullins grey is actually the horse I think will take all the beating in this year’s renewal of the Boxing Day spectacular, but unless you managed to grab some of the fancy prices available about him before his seasonal reappearance or in the immediate aftermath of that victory he’s now surely short enough in the betting at a general 7/2.

If the ground was to come up very testing then the 11/4 on last year’s winner Silviniaco Conti could look a late Christmas gift, however given the forecast that seems unlikely at this stage and Conti now looks like an out and out stayer.