Timeform's Adam Houghton looks at five great winners of the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase from Arkle to Cue Card.
Arkle (1965)
Arkle had already changed the landscape of National Hunt racing forever by the time he made his first appearance in the King George VI Chase at Kempton in 1965, one of the few remaining omissions on a CV headlined by back-to-back wins in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham. Just four weeks before the King George, Arkle had defied the welter burden of 12-7 to win the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury for the second year in succession, making such a challenge look routine as only he could.
Four runners went to post for the King George, with Arkle being sent off the 7/1-on favourite against the brilliant two-mile chaser Dunkirk, who was having his first try at three miles, and Dormant, who had lowered the colours of Arkle’s old rival Mill House in the 1964 Whitbread Gold Cup. However, perhaps the biggest obstacle to Arkle’s Kempton run was the weather, with a heavy frost putting the meeting in doubt on a day when fixtures at Huntingdon, Market Rasen, Sedgefield, Wetherby, Wincanton and Wolverhampton were all called off for the same reason.
The card was eventually given the thumbs up – much to the delight of the thousands of extra fans who had flocked to Kempton just to see the dual Gold Cup winner – and the race itself proved little more than a procession after Arkle was left clear at the head of affairs on the final circuit. Dunkirk adopted his customary trailblazing tactics but had just been headed when he suffered a lung haemorrhage and failed to take off at the last ditch five from home, resulting in a fatal fall. Arkle cruised home from there to win by a distance, passing the post alone as Dormant was landing over the final fence.
Sadly, Arkle suffered a career-ending injury when beaten by Dormant in the 1966 edition of the King George, his final start coming less than 10 months after he’d won his third Gold Cup at odds of 10/1-on. It’s remarkable to think how much more Arkle could have achieved if he’d stayed sound, but his record is still beyond equal as we approach the 55-year anniversary of his King George success, with his Timeform rating of 212 identifying him as the highest-rated steeplechaser of all time.
Captain Christy (1975)
Captain Christy was prone to the odd serious jumping error throughout his career, but he was also a chaser of rare ability when putting it all together, as he showed when winning the Gold Cup as a novice in 1974, beating the previous year’s winner The Dikler by five lengths despite making a mess of the last.
Captain Christy’s first victory in the King George came later that year, making all to land the spoils by five lengths from Pendil, who was seeking his third successive win in the race. However, it is his performance when winning the 1975 edition of the Boxing Day highlight for which Captain Christy is perhaps best remembered, the most impressive success of his career and one that demonstrated all his best qualities.
The opposition was headed by Bula, one of the highest-rated two-mile hurdlers in Timeform’s experience. He’d switched to chasing relatively late in life at the age of nine, but that didn’t stop him quickly reaching a top-class level of form in that sphere, too, with his King George run being his third of a season that had started with a defeat of the dual Champion Chase winner Royal Relief and the dual Grand National winner Red Rum at Haydock.
Bula and Captain Christy started the 11/10 joint-favourites for the King George, but it became apparent from some way out that this was going to be a one-horse race. Captain Christy set out to make all and proceeded to gallop and jump – bar his trademark error at the fourth-last – his rivals into submission. He’d stretched his advantage over Bula to 30 lengths by the line, completing the course in record time to boot.
Captain Christy was still only an eight-year-old when putting on that virtuoso display and would have been a red-hot favourite to defend his Gold Cup crown. In the event, however, he was reported to have injured his off-fore shortly after the King George, and, though the issue was initially not thought to be too serious, Captain Christy managed only one more race before retirement.
Desert Orchid (1986)
Fan favourite Desert Orchid produced any number of memorable performances during his career, not least his emotional success in the 1989 Gold Cup. However, if it’s a statement performance that you’re after, then you need look no further than his victory in the 1986 King George, the first of his four wins in the race.
Desert Orchid had already proved himself a top-class chaser by that stage, but he arrived at Kempton with his stamina to prove on his first try at three miles and was relatively unfancied in the betting, starting at 16/1 in a strong race. His rivals included Forgive ‘N Forget, who had won the 1985 Gold Cup, and the three-time King George winner Wayward Lad, while Desert Orchid didn’t even seem to be the main fancy from his own stable, with first jockey Colin Brown choosing to ride Combs Ditch, who had filled the runner-up spot in the two previous renewals.
One person who was certain ‘Dessie’ would stay the trip was trainer David Elsworth. “These buggers are going to let you go, they don’t think he’ll stay,” he reportedly told jockey Simon Sherwood before the race. “But I’m telling you he will stay, and you’ve got to ride him as if he’ll stay every yard.” Sherwood certainly did that. Desert Orchid raced in a clear lead from the outset – he was around 15 lengths clear by the third fence – and never saw another rival in testing conditions, putting in some spectacular leaps on his way to a 15-length defeat of Door Latch and Bolands Cross.
That success kickstarted Desert Orchid’s love affair with the King George amidst a whole host of other big-race wins. He was only second the following year but won every other renewal up to 1990, his four victories making him the most successful horse in the race before a certain Kauto Star – more on whom shortly – came along. It was perhaps fitting that Dessie’s final appearance on a racecourse also came in the King George, falling when well held before passing the post riderless to a rapturous response from his adoring public in 1991.
Kauto Star (2009)
Much like Desert Orchid before him, Kauto Star’s exploits in the King George became a highlight of the Christmas period for several years in succession, winning five of the six editions between 2006 and 2011. His five victories all make for enjoyable viewing, with nothing to stir the emotions quite like his record-breaking success at the age of 11 in 2011, but, for sheer brilliance, there have been very few performances in National Hunt history to match that of his 2009 victory.
The 12 rivals who opposed Kauto Star that year were headed by the previous season's Ryanair Chase winner Imperial Commander, who had stamped himself a tip-top chaser when making Kauto Star pull out all the stops to claim his third win in the Betfair Chase at Haydock five weeks earlier. Imperial Commander started second favourite at 13/2, with the Charlie Hall Chase and Peterborough Chase winner Deep Purple next at 17/2. Only two others started at shorter than 25/1, the 10/1-shot Madison du Berlais and 14/1-shot Barbers Shop.
Imperial Commander's King George prospects were compromised by a bad mistake at the second fence. His stablemate Ollie Magern and Nacarat set a searching gallop but the pace proved no problem for Kauto Star, and his jumping remained supremely accomplished. Sauntering clear in the home straight after joining Nacarat full of running at the fourth-last, and crossing the line seemingly with plenty left, Kauto Star produced easily the best performance of his already glittering career, even better than when recording his Gold Cup win by 13 lengths earlier that year. The official winning margin was given as ‘a distance’, becoming only the second horse after Arkle to dish out such a resounding beating to his King George rivals.
Remarkably, given how dominant he was that day, Kauto Star was beaten on four of his next five starts (including his sole defeat in the King George), but he returned in 2011 with a resounding success to regain his crown and add another remarkable chapter in the story of a racing great. Retired after being pulled up in the Gold Cup later that season, his position amongst the best steeplechasers in Timeform’s experience is beyond doubt, with his rating of 191 – achieved in the 2009 King George – putting him behind only Arkle (212), Flyingbolt (210) and Sprinter Sacre (192p).
Cue Card (2015)
Cue Card was beaten on his first three appearances in the King George, but he’d shown himself to be capable of top-class form on several other occasions and headed to the 2015 edition of the race seemingly in the form of his life after decisive wins in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby and Betfair Chase at Haydock (for the second time in three years).
It was testament to the quality of the field assembled for the King George that Cue Card was still only the third choice of punters behind the formidable Irish raiders Don Cossack and Vautour. A top-class novice the previous season, Vautour had been ante-post favourite even after putting up just a workmanlike performance to win the 1965 Chase at Ascot on his reappearance, but he was deposed closer to the race by Don Cossack, who arrived at Kempton as Timeform’s highest-rated chaser in training after winning eight of his last nine starts.
It’s rare for these heavyweight clashes to live up to their star billing, but it’s fair to say that the King George delivered and then some, with the three market principals all running right up to their best. The major disappointment of the race was the fall of Don Cossack when holding every chance at the second-last, but Cue Card and Vautour still provided a thrilling climax. Vautour had raced keenly in front but still looked likely to last out before Cue Card – who had been under pressure from early in the straight – rallied to join him on the line, ultimately snatching the spoils by a head, with another 13 lengths back to Al Ferof in third.
It was a race that had it all and a rivalry that still had another twist in store at the Cheltenham Festival. With Vautour being rerouted at the eleventh hour to the Ryanair Chase (which he won in bloodless fashion), Don Cossack and Cue Card dominated the betting for the Gold Cup, and both were travelling powerfully as they rose together at the third-last. However, this time it was Cue Card’s turn not to get high enough as he took a crashing fall, leaving Don Cossack to make amends for his King George spill and those watching with even more questions about what might have happened.