Gerri Colombe camp delay King George decision while Allaho could go off 'close to evens' as support builds

Gerri Colombe, one of the rising stars of the staying chase division, is not guaranteed to take his place in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase, with connections set for a nervy week of weather watching before Boxing Day.

The seven-year-old shot to the head of the market for the Grade 1, overtaking longtime favourite Bravemansgame, after "serious money" came for him last month but on Monday he had drifted out to 4-1 generally (from 3s).

Bookmakers now consider Allaho the one to beat in a wide-open King George after Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins confirmed the two-time Ryanair Chase winner would travel to Kempton, and he was duly cut to 7-4.

Whether Gerri Colombe lines up will depend on the conditions, according to owner Robcour's Brian Acheson, with the ground currently a mix of good to soft and good and a relatively dry week ahead.

Gerri Colombe – viewed by many as the most likely contender to deny Galopin Des Champs a Cheltenham Gold Cup repeat – took his record to nine from ten when motoring home in Down Royal's Champion Chase in November for Gordon Elliott. He has never raced on any surface quicker than good to soft and also has an entry in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown on December 28.

Acheson said: "It's going to be down to the weather whether Gerri Colombe goes to the King George. They are due a bit of rain early this week but there's not much after that and if we travel over, we have to go on Saturday so we haven't decided whether he'll go yet."

The ground at Kempton is a 50-50 split between good to soft and good ahead of an expected wet day on Tuesday, when up to 10mm of rain is forecast. The outlook is for it to stay mostly dry for the rest of the week but more rain is anticipated on Boxing Day.

Clifford said on Monday: "We've got lovely ground as we speak, a mixture of good to soft and good but that's not going to be the case after Tuesday's forecast of 10mm. At this stage it looks like there may be sporadic rainfall, not in great quantities, throughout the week.

"Tuesday [December 26] possibly looks like a wet day, again in the region of 5-10mm during racing. If we get that, jockeys will quite rightly probably call it soft but at the minute, we're in a good place to take rainfall."

Allaho is on course for his first shot at the King George after being ruled out of the race with a setback when a 6-4 favourite last November. He missed the entire 2022-2023 season but is on course for a heavyweight clash with Britain's leading three-mile chasers, including last year's winner Bravemansgame, Betfair Chase winner Royale Pagaille and the enigmatic Shishkin.

Allaho: dominating the King George bettingCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

The Cheveley Park nine-year-old made a successful return in the Clonmel Oil Chase last month and has been electric on his last two starts in Britain, landing the 2021 Ryanair Chase by 12 lengths from Fakir D'Oudairies before striking by an even wider margin when beating Janidil in the same race the following season.

Mullins, who has won the King George with Florida Pearl (2001) and Tornado Flyer (2021), said: "At the moment, it looks like Allaho will go for the King George. We'll see how he works over the next week but the plan is to go to Kempton."

Unibet, who trimmed Allaho to 7-4 following sustained support, are expecting his price to shorten again.

The firm's head of racing Ed Nicholson said: "Allaho has been all the rage in the last few days. We laid a few fair bets on him at 11-4 on Saturday and he's now our 7-4 favourite. With doubts around some of the other fancied contenders running, it wouldn't be a surprise to me if come the day Allaho went off close to evens.

"Bravemansgame has been 5-2 ever since his defeat in the Betfair Chase but remains friendless. Shishkin has been cut into 7-1 (from 8), after several each-way bets, while Frodon has also attracted each-way support. He's now 40-1 (from 66)."

Ladbrokes King George VI Chase (2.30 Kempton, December 26)

Ladbrokes: 7-4 Allaho, 11-4 Bravemansgame, 9-2 Gerri Colombe, 7 Shishkin, 8 Royale Pagaille, 10 The Real Whacker, 20 Hewick, 25 Galopin Des Champs, 33 bar

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