Cue Card and Silviniaco Conti Clipped for King George Part 1

It's going to be a dramatically different race without the likes of Kauto Star as the 2012 King George will be the first without the legendary chaser for quite some time. A cadre of strong contenders are lining up to take on the testing Boxing Day circuit at Kempton and former Gold Cup champion Long Run reigns supreme as the ante post favourite heading into the start of the National Hunt season.

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Long Run certainly had an up and down season with only a single actual victory though he was able to hit the board in every race he ran. The victory came in the Grade 2 Denman Chase at Newbury and that was against a relatively slim field of five runners. He won the January 15 King George at Kempton back in 2011 and that was really the year that he rose to prominence – following up that score with a victory at Cheltenham.

Not much is known about his first targeted race and there is really every chance that he will use the King George as his seasonal debut. He is spotted as low as 3/1 with several bookmakers and trades as high as 4/1 with a handful of others.

Grands Crus is the second place contender in the ante post wagering and you'll notice that he acquitted himself fairly well in the RSA Chase but was ultimately a disappointment for many. He was beaten 18 lengths to finish fourth – not what you want to see at 6/5 – but he will be in this one all the way and should improve now that he is seven. 

Keep in mind he shouldn't have been bet down that far as he had only done well on the novice circuit and was not really ready to tackle the jumpers he ran against at Cheltenham.

Blame the punters for that one, not the horse. Grands Crus can be backed at a 5/1 price with most major bookmakers.