Sport

Who will win the 2018 King George VI Chase?

King George Vi Chase
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Written by Tim Barnes-Clay

If you’re a dad who loves the horses, then you’ll love this advice on the 2018 King George VI Chase.

Boxing Day is one of the busiest days of the year in sport, and in horse racing, it is no different, with eight meetings in the UK if you are looking for a day at the races or to have bet and watch the action of the box.

The feature race every Boxing Day is the King George VI Chase, which is run at Kempton over three miles. The leading horses in the division from the UK and Ireland generally line up as it is the second most prestigious race of the season for the 3m chasers.

                           Credit: Racing Post via Twitter

There is also an extra incentive in the King George as it is the second leg of the Chase Triple Crown. If a horse wins all three races in the series, it will pocket its connections a £1 million bonus. Bristol De Mai is the horse still in contention this season as he won the Betfair Chase at Haydock last month. Nigel Twiston-Davies’ runner scored in the race at the Lancashire track for the second successive year after making all of the running, before pulling away from a strong field that included the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Native River, Thistlecrack and Might Bite.

Bristol De Mai is 15/2 to win the King George and keep his hopes alive of winning the Chase Triple Crown heading into the Cheltenham Festival. He ran in the race in 2017, but could only finish sixth on that occasion as a blunder at the third fence from home cost him any chance of winning the contest. With an extra year chasing under his belt, the seven-year-old is sure to get a strong mention in the horse racing predictions and previews from Betting.Betfair as he is a popular grey horse who looks to be improving with every run.

Might Bite has to prove last run was a bad day at the office

Might Bite currently tops the betting, with the bookmakers at 7/2 for the 2018 King George. However, Nicky Henderson’s stable star will need to bounce back from a disappointing seasonal reappearance at Haydock where he faded in the closing stages of the race.

Under the hands of Nico de Boinville, Might Bite won the King George in 2017 in what was a fantastic campaign for the former RSA Chase winner as he was also successful in the Aintree Bowl and finished second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

                           Credit: Sun Racing via Twitter

Supporters of Might Bite will put his disappointing run at Haydock down to rustiness as that was his first run of the season. The horse is the early favourite to prevail in the Blue Riband event of the Festival in March as big things are expected of him in the 2018/19 campaign.

The King George will give racing fans the chance to see the latest instalment of the dual between Might Bite and Native River. The two horses had a fantastic battle at Cheltenham, and both will be expected to be fighting it out at the finish at Kempton in what should be a brilliant renewal of the Grade One Chase.