Bravemansgame lands Paul Nicholls a remarkable 13th King George victory

• L’Homme Presse unseats at the last when looking beaten
• Constitution Hill flawless as ever in Christmas Hurdle

All the money in the run-up to the King George VI Chase was for L’Homme Presse, who ended up as favourite at 9-4, but Paul Nicholls, the trainer of Bravemansgame, was undeterred. “He was drifting over the last few days,” Nicholls said in the winner’s enclosure, having seen his runner finish a long way clear, “but I kept telling all my mates to lump on.”

Nicholls was, admittedly, buoyed by the confidence that comes with having won Kempton Park’s Christmas showpiece a record dozen times already, and his 13th success would have been achieved by perhaps a length or so had L’Homme Presse not unseated Charlie Deutsch, his rider, at the final fence. But the favourite’s backers can have no complaints about what might have been, as Harry Cobden and Bravemansgame had taken control a few seconds earlier with a strong run between the final two obstacles, having been prominent just behind the pace-setting Frodon from the start.

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