LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Allaho bids to give legendary Irish trainer Willie Mullins a third win in an intriguing renewal of the prestigious King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Tuesday.
Allaho missed all of last season but returned to win the Clonmel Oil Chase this term setting him up for a tilt at the race considered only second to The Cheltenham Gold Cup over jumps.
He faces just five rivals, including defending champion Bravemansgame and the sublimely talented but unpredictable Shiskin described as a “bit of a plonker” by his venerable trainer Nicky Henderson.
Allaho sat out last season — after winning a second successive Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2022 — with a rare spleen complaint.
Mullins, 67, was happy enough with the horse’s performance in winning in November to aim him at the King George, a race the trainer won with Florida Pearl in 2001 and Tornado Flyer in 2021.
His son Patrick, who is his assistant, said they expect a big run from the favorite although he added a caveat.
“Since he won the Punchestown Gold Cup and showed he can stay three miles, the King George has definitely been on the radar, and with his owners (Cheveley Park Stud) it’s a nice fit,” Mullins said.
“He’s nine, going 10, coming back from a year off the track, so it’s hard to think he’s still at his very best, but hopefully he might still be good enough to win.”
Both Bravemansgame — who if victorious would give trainer Paul Nicholls a record-extending 14th win in the race — and Shishkin come into the contest on the back of disappointing displays.
Bravemansgame looked a shadow of the horse that won last year’s King George by 14 lengths and finished an excellent second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March as he filled the runner-up spot in the Grade One Betfair Chase in November.
Nicholls, though, thinks the horse will be better for that run — which followed another runners-up spot on his debut this term.
“Bravemansgame won the race last year and then the season before he won the Kauto Star (Novices’ Chase) around Kempton,” the 61-year-old said.
