• Nicholls: ‘He’s a proper Gold Cup contender’
For a moment here on Wednesday it seemed that the fragile brilliance of Thistlecrack, the King George VI Chase winner two years ago, would light up the afternoon once again but no sooner had the old warrior hit the front than he was breezily swept aside by the youngest horse in the race. Clan Des Obeaux, still only six, took his measure at the last to record a far more emphatic success than the one-and-a-half-length margin might suggest and give Paul Nicholls, his trainer, his 10th victory in chasing’s mid-season championship.
The King George was first staged in 1937 and no trainer bar Nicholls has won the race more than five times. He has also matched the achievements of Fulke Walwyn and François Doumen in saddling four different horses to win a King George and, with young chasers like Clan Des Obeaux coming to the fore, a challenge for an 11th trainers’ title, which he has not won since 2016, may be only a matter of time.
Written by Greg Wood at Kempton
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/dec/26/clan-des-obeaux-wins-tenth-king-george-vi-chase-paul-nicholls-horse-racing under the title “Clan Des Obeaux wins a 10th King George VI Chase for Paul Nicholls”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
