2016 King George VI Chase Betting Preview PT 1

As the Christmas season draws closer we all know that it generally means a lot of holiday stress, evenings with the in-laws and (most importantly) the King George running on Boxing Day. The big showdown at Kempton every year always boasts one of the best days of National Hunt racing of the entire year and you can always glean a few Cheltenham clues from examining the running of the big contest and the other important undercard races.

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This year's iteration of the race should be a genuinely fascinating one since we still have question marks over the likelihood of Thistlecrack running in this one. The Colin Tizzard-trained eight-year-old has already been out three times this year – victorious in each one as he really looks to have taken to chasing.

A number of bookmakers have him floating around a 7/2 margin or even as high as a 4/1 price tag but you'll find that even a couple are offering him at 7/4 with a run. That's a very interesting wager because he really has shown a lot of quality and there are a number of believers who think that he can jump off of the novice chase circuit and begin tangling with Gold Cup calibre competition already at this stage in the season.

He's gone off at a 1/6, a 1/7 and a 1/8 price in his three runs this season so you have to reckon that his listing for the King George – even with a non-runner no bet option in place – still looks very interesting if you think he runs to form.

Even with a run, he doesn't quite go off as the betting favourite here with all of the markets favouring the likes of Cue Card. The talented son of King's Theatre didn't exactly fire his best performance at Wetherby in his seasonal debut but he absolutely romped home in the Grade 1 Betfair Chase when he topped Coneygree by a full fifteen length margin.

Cue Card can be backed as low as an 11/8 price right now with several top bookmakers but his best price appears to hover around a 6/4 margin.