Cyrname is biggest threat Clan Des Obeaux winning a third King George Chase at Kempton

The famous race is littered with multiple winners down the years – with Kauto Star winning five times and Desert Orchid recording his then record fourth victory 30 years ago.

Wayward Lad – one of Yorkshire jump racing’s greatest ever steeplechasers – was a three-time winner while great horses Pendil, Captain Christy, Silver Buck, The Fellow and One Man have recorded dual successes.

Clan Des Obeaux is leading a four-strong challenge by former champion trainer Paul Nicholls who is seeking an incredible 12th win in the Christmas highlight (five came courtesy of the aforementioned Kauto Star).

Co-owned by, amongst others, legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Paul Barber, the biggest threat to the 2018 and 2019 winner is likely to come from stablemate Cyrname.

Runner-up in last year’s contest when below par following a gruelling win over the all-conquering Altior at Ascot in November 2019, he was an impressive victor of Wetherby’s flagship Charlie Hall Chase at the end of October.

And it was the manner of that triumph that convinced the likable Harry Cobden, stable jockey to Nicholls, to stay loyal to Cyrname.

It was, after all, Cobden, who won the 2018 King George on Clan Des Obeaux before Twiston-Davies, the former stable jockey to Nicholls, made the most of a dream spare ride in last year’s renewal.

“Before we won last year, I’d watched Clan very closely in the race from the year before and spoke to Harry. We talked about tactics and what might happen,” said Twiston-Davies ahead of today’s big race that will be run in eerie silence because of the absence of crowds due to the ongoing Covid pandemic.

“Harry was brilliant – he told me everything I needed to know about my lad, but he didn’t actually tell me much about Cyrname.

“Clan was fantastic. He jumped, he travelled, and he winged every fence down the back. Then, when I asked him to pick up, he winged the second-last and off he went. The rest is history.”

Before winning his first King George, Clan Des Obeaux had finished fourth in the Betfair Chase at Haydock to Bristol De Mai.

This year he went even closer when finishing second on Merseyside to the grey and Haydock specialist Bristol De Mai, ironically trained by the jockey’s father Nigel.

“I rode him again on his first start of this season at Haydock when it was very soft ground. He jumped beautifully, travelled great and he felt like he was coming there to win the race,” added Twiston-Davies.

“Something I’d say is that the heavy ground at Haydock suited Bristol De Mai.

“That race is his Kempton, so I take a lot of positives out of that race for Clan.

“He has his own kind of way of jumping – you leave him to it, and he is very good. He’s very economical, efficient and, at the same time, he has plenty of scope.

“I guess he’s grown up and, physically, he’s probably a little bit stronger this year – hence he can deal with heavy ground better than he used to. You could say he’s more complete now.

“I went to see him in the week and I’m looking forward to Kempton. From a jockey’s point of view, it’s just about trying your best and enjoying it.

“I just hope he can do something similar to last year. That would be nice. Between now and Boxing Day, it’s just a case of holding on tight, that’s the long and short of it!”

Meanwhile, Nicholls cannot separate his two main protagonists – while he’s also mindful of Nicky Henderson’s decision to supplement Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Santini.

“I don’t know if I can say this is my strongest hand – that would have been any year I had Kauto Star running for me, because he was virtually unbeatable!” said Nicholls, who also runs Frodon and Real Steel.

“I’ve got the first and second favourites who both have great form at the track, and the other two. Clan is the defending champ, he’s won two and you do get horses winning multiple King Georges. To win three would be brilliant, but Cyrname has a good record around Kempton and is in a completely different place compared to last year.

“I don’t think there’s much between Cyrname and Clan – Clan has the advantage as he has such a great track record and has won the last two.”

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