Paul Nicholls claimed his first King George VI Chase of the post-Kauto Star era as Silviniaco Conti hunted down Cue Card in the final stages of Kempton’s Boxing Day feature.
Kauto Star, who two years ago closed out his own fifth of what are now eight Nicholls victories, led the field onto the course before 100-30 favourite Cue Card assumed responsibility for the vast majority of the three miles.
Jumping bravely and moving swiftly with his head held characteristically high, Cue Card appeared to have the Grade One in hand across nearly every blade of grass until just before the last fence, where he was overcome by his exertions on what was very testing ground and quickly passed and beaten three and a half lengths by Noel Fehily and Silviniaco Conti.
Colin Tizzard’s Cue Card had finished almost six lengths ahead of Silviniaco Conti (7-2) when the pair met in last month’s Lancashire Chase at Haydock and their rivalry may well be stretched to a third round in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Fehily was constantly guarding against allowing Cue Card and Joe Tizzard the chance to stride on clear, and while he looked to be struggling to match him turning for the finish, the chestnut continued to respond to him.
“I knew what Joe was going to do, we didn’t want to give him a soft lead. Cue Card was jumping better than us, but our horse stays forever,” said Nicholls.
“We’ll aim him for the Gold Cup, and decide if he has a run before. I know people have said otherwise, but I thought he was cantering when he fell last season.
“It’s great to win this race with something different (apart from Kauto Star and See More Business). These are the ones you want to win.”
