Kauto Star Still Odds-on While Nightingale Halved

The National Hunt scene is eagerly anticipating the upcoming King George VI Chase which is running nearly three weeks later than it was originally intended to. The snow that originally cancelled the event has turned to rain, lots of rain, and the softer going has prompted another reshuffling in the very competitive antepost market for this race. 

Kauto Star holds on to to his 5/6 price for the outright victory while outsiders who favour soft going have seen price drops. The most notable looks to be Kauto's stablemate The Nightingale who was more or less halved by most bookmakers with a drop from 20/1 to 12/1. 

While there is a sharp disparity between Kauto Star and The Nightingale, the race does indeed set up nicely for the 8 year-old son of Cadoudal. He has scored over the Kempton surface but at a much shorter distance- a 2m4.5f score last February. The ground on the day was rated soft.

Many expect Planet of Sound and Albertas Run to withdraw from the race as they generally need much firmer going to score. 

Another issue that has surfaced was Nigel Twiston-Davies who wanted to enter Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander . Twiston-Davies had IC initially registered but withdrew after he picked up an injury in his previous outing. Imperial Commander is now firing on all cylinders and Twiston-Davies had been shut down by the BHA in his attempt to get IC re-entered. 

Whether or not Twiston-Davies actually intended to run Imperial Commander or not remains to be seen, as he will likely stand a much better chance of retaining his crowd if he went into the Gold Cup fresh.