Superb Clan Des Obeaux wins second King George VI Chase for Nicholls

Clan Des Obeaux jumped and travelled superbly to run out an impressive winner of the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase, his second consecutive win of the Boxing Day feature at Kempton.

He emerged as the main challenger to favourite and stablemate Cyrname entering the home straight and the 11-2 shot pulled clear under Sam Twiston-Davies from the second-last fence to give Paul Nicholls a record 11th win in the King George.

Betfair Chase winner Lostintranslation did not jump with as much fluency as at Haydock last month and was pulled up before the third-last. Cyrname finished 21 lengths behind Clan Des Obeaux, with Footpad a further five lengths back in third.

Twiston-Davies said: "When you leave an operation like Paul's you think days like this are going to be incredibly hard to come by. Luckily at home we have a nice team of horses but to ride one for Paul with such a good chance in a race like this is a real buzz.

"The last thing Paul said before we went out was to try not to hit the front too soon – but when I turned in travelling so well I was thinking, how can I try keep this as smooth as I can without doing anything silly? I decided that once we got over two out we would just have to go. Luckily he winged the last and did it really well."

Sam Twiston-Davies celebrates by throwing his whip into the crowd after riding Clan Des Obeaux to victoryCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Nicholls said: "It's nice to have a one-two and it's nice for Sam to ride a Grade 1 winner. I always said it was a tough call and there wasn't much between them.

"I knew the more it rained today the more it'd suit Clan, he's stronger and better than he was last year. He's only seven so he's entitled to have improved and the key is to have him nice and fresh like he was today."

Paul Nicholls' 11 King George winners

1997 See More Business (Andrew Thornton) 10-1

1999 See More Business (Mick Fitzgerald) 5-2f

2006 Kauto Star (Ruby Walsh) 8-13f

2007 Kauto Star (Ruby Walsh) 4-6f

2008 Kauto Star (Ruby Walsh) 10-11f

2009 Kauto Star (Ruby Walsh) 8-13f

2011 Kauto Star (Ruby Walsh) 3-1

2013 Silviniaco Conti (Noel Fehily) 7-2

2014 Silviniaco Conti (Noel Fehily) 15-8f

2018 Clan Des Obeaux (Harry Cobden) 12-1

2019 Clan Des Obeaux (Sam Twiston-Davies) 11-2

On the runner-up, he added: "I don't think Cyrname had his normal zest, he just ran a bit flat. Harry [Cobden] had to niggle him a couple of times and he may not have got over his run the other day, he may just have had an off day, but who knows. He didn't quite have his normal zest but he's still run well and finished second."

Clan Des Obeaux was cut into 8-1 (from 25-1) for the Gold Cup by Paddy Power and Betfair Sportsbook.

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