Ladbrokes King George VI Chase report and replay: Bravemansgame strikes for Paul Nicholls

The winner's stablemate Frodon cut out the running until the home turn when he was passed by L'Homme Presse, who had jumped left throughout, occasionally impeding the winner.

Bravemansgame joined issue at the second last and was driven clear of his rival soon after.

He had the race in safe keeping at the final fence - where L'Homme Presse pitched on landing and unseated Charlie Deutsch - leaving Royale Pagaille (12/1) to come through to second ahead of Frodon (18/1).

But his nearest purser was some 14 lengths adrift of the Bravemansgame who's rider Harry Cobden told ITV Racing: "He's very good. If he was mine I'd love to go straight to the Gold Cup and have a chance there. He felt every bit as much a stayer as I've always thought he was. The more you ask him the more he gives."

Nicholls said: “It was a hell of a race. They went a good gallop and old Frodon gave them a good lead. He stayed on strong then and showed his strengths. He is just a maturing horse and we have trained him for today.

“We will go straight to Cheltenham now and we won’t run him before the Gold Cup. Better ground he travels better on than he did today but he dug deep and stayed on. The other horse was a little unfortunate to lose his pilot but he was beaten by then.

“We were very confident. Some of those bad runs in the spring you couldn’t judge him on as ours weren’t right. When he is right he is a very good horse. We knew him at his best today. I loved the way he stayed on as all the way down the back he didn’t have a great passage as L’Homme Presse kept jumping across him and I would have liked to have seen it go a bit more fluent but he came hard on the bridle and stayed on well. It is just fantastic.

“You set out to try and win these races and it is just brilliant but you have got to have the right horse. He is a good horse he has not been the easiest to train but we learnt a few lessons about him last season but we have got him right now. He needs to be fresh. We have nothing to lose running him at Cheltenham but he won’t run before. Nice ground will suit him well. It was great to see him stay on strong today.

“He was drifting over the last few days but I kept telling all my mates to lump on. I was confident as I thought the track would suit him well. L’Homme Presse was obviously going to be a danger and he is obviously going to be a very good horse and he won’t be far away in the Gold Cup where going left handed will probably suit him better. But we got on top of him when he departed at the last and Bravemansgame galloped on to win so it is good form.

“I’m thrilled. Who knows (what would have happened if L’Homme Presse) hadn’t come to grief at the last but he wasn’t stopping. He just jumped to the front and he would have been hard to go by. You can never be certain but it looked that way to me watching. I’m lucky enough to have the horses good enough to do it and the capability of a team that is good enough to get them right on the day.

“Horses like this find you rather than the other way. We have been lucky and we have some other lovely young horses at home. It is fantastic and I feel very lucky.

“You never dream of days like this and once you have a taste of it you never want it to go away. Last season he would never be able to do that (go three times up the hill on the gallops) now he cruises up it. Horses like that just reach that maturity. When he was five when he went to Cheltenham he was nowhere near the best physically but he is getting there.”

Venetia Williams, trainer of runner-up Royal Pagaille and L’Homme Presse said: “It’s a shame as it looked as though they were going to be second and third, but they’ve both run very well; I’m proud of both of them today. Paul’s horse has won today but there'll be more races in which they meet and hopefully we’ll come out on top when they do.”

Bryony Frost, third on Frodon, added: “He never lets me down and if we’re going to go down, we go down fighting. He’s unbelievable, his stamina is much better after his wind op which really helped him.

"The way he’s jumped there is fantastic and he’s really served it up to them and he loses nothing in defeat. He’s absolutely phenomenal, we were able to get out in front and do what we do best and the younger legs have just gone by him. But he’s awesome and I can’t fault him.”

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