|feedback | low graphics version|
|You are in: Other Sports|
Thursday, 21 December, 2000, 17:32 GMT
Two courses for King George horses
Like all great races, the King George VI Chase has its fair share of striking statistics.
BBC Sport Online's Sophie Brown leafs through the record books and reins in some of the more unusual facts.
"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a winning horse" to loosely quote - not George VI - but Richard III.
And it is the ambition of all owners, trainers and jockeys to win one of chasing's "big three" races - the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup or the King George VI.
Yet a cursory glance at the Kempton roll of honour shows that those lucky enough to scoop the King George once have often had the outrageous cheek to win it again.
No fewer than nine horses have won the King George VI twice - these include four-time winner Desert Orchid and triple champion Wayward Lad.
But just as the Kempton record books show double triumphs, so too is glory often paired with subsequent disaster a year later.
The legendary Arkle was the King George VI champion in 1965 but during the following year's race he broke a pedal bone.
Although he still managed to come second, he never raced again.
Nupsala was a surprise winner in 1987 but the following year his connections dialled the wrong fax number when confirming his entry for the race.
Having missed the declaration deadline before the mistake was realised, the horse was unable to defend his crown.
Barton Bank took the 1993 race but 12 months later, he unseated his rider when well clear at the last fence.
Another anomaly of Kempton's premier race is the success of French raiders.
Instances of gallic glory in the rest of British steeplechasing are few and far between and yet the King George has fallen into French hands on four occasions in the last 13 years.
The Boxing Day race has always traditionally been contested by small but select fields.
The 1975 contest was a one-horse race - this time in the sense that Captain Christy led from start to finish and ended up an emphatic 30-length winner.
The oldest winner of the King George was the first ever champion, the 12-year-old Southern Hero in 1937.
The youngest was the Queen Mother-owned five-year-old Manicou, which won in 1950.
The average age of the winner is eight years old - the age of popular grey One Man when he won the 1995 race - and bizarrely the age he was when he retained his title in 1996.
This was because the 1995 meeting was abandoned because of bad weather and held a few weeks later in January 1996.
Regardless of which month in a year they are born, all horses' ages are calculated as if they were born on January 1, allowing One Man to achieve this unique distinction.
The rescheduled 1995 race was run at Sandown, the only time the King George has not been run at Kempton - and the only time the race has actually been re-arranged.
Other reasons for the abandoning of the race include World War II and a foot and mouth epidemic.
Ex-champion jockey Richard Dunwoody is the most successful King George rider with four wins but several top jockeys are notable absentees.
Peter Scudamore, Jonjo O'Neill and Terry Biddlecombe are among those who never claimed a King George triumph.
Tony McCoy - arguably the most successful jump jockey racing has seen - has yet to break his duck in the race.
Big-name trainers such as Martin Pipe and Nicky Henderson are also still seeking success in Kempton's big race.
Those hoping the record books will shed light on future winners might be interested to know that the average price of a King George winner is just over 5/1.
In addition, horses whose name begins with 'S' have notched up more wins that those beginning with any other letter.
Two-time winner See More Business is the only 'S' runner declared in this year's contest.
Given that he's likely to start a firm favourite, you'd stand more chance of getting a ride in the race than you would of getting fives on him.
But stranger things have happened in racing.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Other top Other Sports stories:
Links to top Other Sports stories are at the foot of the page.
Links to other Other Sports stories
|^^ Back to top|
|Front Page | Football | Cricket | Rugby Union | Rugby League | Tennis | Golf | Motorsport | Boxing | Athletics | Other Sports | Sports Talk |
In Depth | Photo Galleries | Audio/Video | TV & Radio | BBC Pundits | Question of Sport | Funny Old Game
BBC News >> | BBC Weather >>
© MMII | News Sources | Privacy