Ladbrokes King George VI Chase: Bravemansgame, Allaho and Shishkin in the frame for Boxing Day battle

Gordon Elliott’s charge has won five of his six starts over fences to date, with his only defeat coming when edged out by a short head in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival back in March.

The seven-year-old was a narrow winner on his return in last month’s Champion Chase at Down Royal and had been among the leading lights for Kempton’s Christmas feature.

However, with the ground at the Sunbury track currently described as good to soft, good in places, connections are concerned conditions may not suit and have decided to stay closer to home, raising the prospect of a stellar field for the Savills Chase on December 28.

Last year’s winner Bravemansgame has been shaved to 2/1 from 5/2 in the betting, with Shishkin now third favourite at 7/2 for what is now a six-horse race following the withdrawal of Royal Pagaille with a sore foot.

Allaho the one to beat

Willie Mullins sprang a surprise in the race two years ago with Tornado Flyer but that was his first triumph in the race since Florida Pearl in 2001 and in Allaho he has strong claims of a second success in three years.

A dual Ryanair Chase winner, Allaho was being aimed at the three-mile contest last year but picked up an injury which ruled him out of the whole campaign. He returned to action with a win in the Clonmel Oil Chase.

Paul Nicholls’ Bravemansgame has yet to win a race since his victory 12 months ago. He went out on his shield in the Cheltenham Gold Cup but has been surprisingly beaten in the Charlie Hall and Betfair Chase this season.

He will be joined by stable companion Frodon, winner of the race in 2020 and a 33/1 shot for a second success.

Shishkin is the unknown quantity in the field after refusing to start at Ascot recently. He proved his stamina for three miles at Aintree in the spring but the lack of a recent run is a concern for his trainer Nicky Henderson.

As a six-time Grade One and dual Cheltenham Festival winner, Shishkin’s raw ability is not in question, but Henderson feels he faces an almighty task to win the King George on what will ultimately be his first start since impressing at Aintree in the spring.

“I’ve been saying all along I don’t see how you can win a King George without a race and the answer is you can’t. On the other hand, we have got nowhere else to go, as there isn’t another race until the Cotswold Chase,” Henderson went on.

“If I ran him at Sandown in the Fighting Fifth, I would have bottomed him and he wouldn’t go to the King George, so therefore I had to take him home and run him straight in.

“He has been going, for him, really well, and his schooling the other morning was fantastic. I’m not going to sit here and tell you he can win a King George, but I do think he can run very well.

“The trouble with Kempton is that some people think it is an easy three miles because it is flat and fast and there are no hills, but there isn’t a place where they can take a blow or have a breather. You jump, jump, jump, then go flat out around a bend, then go jump, jump, jump. It is all go, go, go.

“We have got to have a go, as we have no other option. We have got to Christmas and he hasn’t had a run, but that is not his fault and I don’t think it is mine either, as we have been trying.”

On his plans to try to avoid a repeat of his Ascot antics, the trainer added: “George (Daly) will go down to the start with him, as he knows him really well. We can’t do anything. Charlie Brooks mentioned a hunting horn, but Barney (Clifford, clerk of the course) won’t let me get up a tree and blow it!”

Shark Hanlon’s Hewick completes the six ar 12/1

Ladbrokes King George VI Chase betting odds

7/4 Allaho
2/1 Bravemansgame
7/2 Shishkin
17/2 The Real Whacker
12/1 Hewick
33/1 Frodon

View the latest horse racing odds

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication