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The King George, Boxing Day

tacker said:
Is this a substandard King george ? Well there's unlikely to be a ARKLE, MILL HOUSE, PENDIL, DESERT ORCHID, WAYWARD LAD or KAUTO STAR to mention just a few.

If there was to be a champion in there it might be IL EST FRANCAIS who looked like a very good novice last year when winning the earlier race in a time around 5s quicker than the big race itself having made all and then going clear after the 3rd last, has had his problems since with breaking blood vessels so some doubt must exist.

Going back to the comparative times of those two races i just think it's worthwhile taking note that the last 4f for each race were.....
IL EST FRANCAIS was 56s ( Hands and heels) https://api.racingtv.com//onspace/m...d2e94cf574895b/kempton-park_20231226_1320.pdf
HEWICK 56.17s ( Stayed on under pressure) https://api.racingtv.com//onspace/m...80dfcbe5830615/kempton-park_20231226_1430.pdf

I was slightly surprised by those numbers but clearly IL EST FRANCAIS went through the earlier part of the race faster than HEWICK who had to be scrubbed along and looked well beat at one point but picked up the pieces late on so from a form reading point of view i feel the french horse comes out a clear best of the two.

GREY DAWNING was a good staying novice last season but would probably prefer softer conditions than he's likely to get.
BANBRIDGE was running a solid race lto before unseating, hard to weigh up over this 3m.
SPILLANE'S TOWER boasts the best recent form via the John Durkin 2nd splitting FACT TO FILE & GALOPIN DE CHAMPS, like most in the race probably needs rain which is unlikely so another good last season novice chaser seeking stardom.

On balance i feel there's plenty of fascinating angle's in this years race with the french getting heavily involved and we know they've done it before with NUPSALA & THE FELLOW so plenty to look forward to and hopefully they all come back safe.

IL EST FRANCAIS would be my choice with the caveats already mentioned but i'm just happy to just watch without betting.
Click to expand...


The sectionals never fail to surprise me.
 
What next for the King George runners ?

Below are the races, which since the start of century, runners have targeted in the 12 months between one King George and the next.
 

Attachments

  • Target races after the Kempton King George VI.jpg
    Target races after the Kempton King George VI.jpg
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markfinn said:
I don’t understand the tables - do you think it just went of too fast not many can lead like that and win especially in top class races
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Sorry for the late reply markfinn markfinn and i suppose it's just down to a matter of opinion but for example if you take the last 4f HYLAND 53.11 while IL EST FRANCAIS did 57. 36, this was of course a consequence of the big differences in early pace see start - f20.
I think the point behind these numbers is you can watch a race and be guided by the commentators words (and they're already at halfway) or simply what you think you're seeing but when you see these numbers they can either confirm or give you a different slant on what you thought you saw.

So to answer your question mark do i think he (il est francais) went too fast ? i would say not really, he beat everything easily bar the Banbridge who stayed the 3m better than he did on the day, all of this is just a small part of what we call "reading form" and unless you can use it going forward then it has little worth but obviously it interests me along with these newer jumping stats etc.
 
Interesting reading and trying to make sense of it not easy.I dont really know much about sectionals but watching it and then looking at the stats you put up i would guess il est francais did go to quick and looks like quickened maybe just before 4 out and went to soon and had nothing left.
And the winner got it spot on and had enough to catch it late on.
I see that alot in races some time top jockeys keep alittle up there cuff for that final two furlongs or final two fences where as some others go on to early and are spent forces late on.
I think if the second would have took pull at maybe 6 out and tried to reserve it for last two would have been closer but easier said than done with horse like that.
But i would doubt its a race to concern the gold cup its self.
 
Banbridge Finishing percentage was 107.46%

TF give a glowing report for IL EST FRANCAIS lost momentum at the last, would have seen him finish closer. They suggest that Aintree would really suit this horse, but worth noting wherever he goes next
 
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