The JP McManus-owned Corbetts Cross is being aimed at Kempton’s King George VI Chase on Boxing Day according to his trainer Emmet Mullins.
Mullins told the Racing Post that his standout 17-length winner of the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival earlier this year is set for a crack at Kempton’s feature race on December 26.
The seven-year-old enjoyed a thoroughly progressive campaign last season where he captured the £60k prize over a gruelling 3m 6f trip on heavy ground at the home of British national hunt racing.
He followed that up with a fine third in the Aintree Bowl at the Grand National Festival a month later, finishing just under three lengths behind Gordon Elliott’s Gold Cup runner-up Gerri Colombe.
Corbetts Cross made his seasonal debut last month at Wexford in the Listed Michael Hickey Memorial Chase over 2m 7f, where he was extremely uneasy in the market at times – drifting out to as big as 10/1 in a three-runner field – before finishing a reasonable second to Henry de Bromhead’s Heart Wood.
That wasn’t a bad performance by any means as he had to give a stone away to his two opponents that day – whilst in need of the run too – and it’s not hard to see why he’s being aimed at one of the racing calendar’s most illustrious contests.
The horse has proved he can hang with the big boys and according to the best horse racing betting sites, Mullins’ stable star is a 16/1 chance to win the 3m Grade 1 on Boxing Day.
WATCH: Corbetts Cross canters up the Cheltenham hill in the 2024 National Hunt Chase
🟢🟡 Corbetts Cross dazzles in the National Hunt Chase
74 winners for owner JP McManus at the Cheltenham Festival pic.twitter.com/YquxksjwC9
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 12, 2024
‘Bad scope’ ruled Corbetts Cross out of Betfair Chase but all systems go for King George venture
Corbetts Cross was due to run in last weekend’s Betfair Chase at Haydock, but McManus’ racing manager Frank Berry confirmed to irishracing.com that the horse had a ‘bad scope’ in the build-up to the race and wasn’t fit enough to make the trip over to England.
He displayed a fabulous improvement across his novice campaign over fences, which reached its crowning point when bumped up into open company at Aintree and he looked more than comfortable in a star-studded field alongside former King George winner Bravemansgame and the late Shishkin.
16/1 looks fair value for money considering he’s an intended runner and the shorter-priced likes of Fastorslow and Spillane’s Tower are yet to be supplemented for the race – plus, we’re unlikely to see Galopin Des Champs line up at Kempton either.
