Silviniaco Conti outstays Cue Card to win King George

Silviniaco Conti gave trainer Paul Nicholls an eighth triumph in the William Hill King George VI Chase when outstaying Cue Card in the Christmas showpiece at Kempton.

Cue Card looked likely to win when he held a good lead early in the straight, but he emptied under Joe Tizzard between the last two fences.

That gave Noel Fehily the incentive on Silviniaco Conti (7 to 2) to grab Cue Card and go away after the last to win by three and a half lengths.

The winner’s stablemate Al Ferof was third, 11 lengths away.

Cue Card made a tremendous effort to make all the running and put in a superb round of jumping.

He had all his rivals hard at work except for Silviniaco Conti, who exposed Cue Card’s suspect stamina at three miles, especially under testing conditions.

Riverside Theatre and Champion Court both exited at the sixth fence, while dual winner Long Run went out at the last.

Fehily said: “I was slow over three out and I thought Joe had got away from me, but this horse is as tough as nails and he’s a very good horse.

“This is a different track (to Haydock) and I knew my horse would be fitter today.

“Paul (Nicholls) has done a great job – he told me all week he’d improved from Haydock (when third to Cue Card in the Betfair Chase) and he has. It was brilliant.

“I’ve not ridden a Gold Cup winner, but I hope he’s a Gold Cup horse. This is unbelievable.”

Nicholls said: “That’s brilliant. I knew if I had him at his best at Haydock he wouldn’t win today.

“Sometimes you win these races with a horse like him, that if you’d have got to the bottom of him at Haydock he wouldn’t have won today.

“It was heavy that day, the run brought him on enormously and I knew he’d stay. I said to Noel to make plenty of use of him.

“Kempton is not an ideal track for him a he jumps a bit out to the left, but he stays forever. All he does is stay, as you saw today. Better ground and a bit further will suit him well.

“Today was his target – last year the targets were the Charlie Hall and the Betfair. This year was a bit different, to come here and then go for the Gold Cup.

“You have to be a true stayer to win round here and though Cue Card won round Haydock it was different ground. He had a soft lead and I didn’t want that to happen today.

“It’s great to win this race with something different (previous wins were five with Kauto Star and two with See More Business). I thought we had a great chance in last season’s Gold Cup, but it didn’t happen ”

My Tent Or Yours collared The New One on the run-in to claim a thrilling renewal of the williamill.com Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

The New One, who had taken it up a fair way from home, just had the upper hand coming to the final flight but made a bad mistake, with Sam Twiston-Davies briefly losing an iron.

That allowed Tony McCoy on the Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old (11 to 8) to get the better of the 5 to 6 favourite on the dash to the line and take the Champion Hurdle rehearsal by half a length. The pair pulled well clear of Sametegal in third.

McCoy said: “It was very pleasing. He pulled hard off a steady enough gallop on heavy ground.

“He had every chance to fold up because he was so keen, but he really toughed it out.

“When I really needed one at the last, he delivered. He’s improved since Newcastle (winning Fighting Fifth Hurdle) and it was a much better performance. I was very impressed with the horse, he has a great will to win.

“He couldn’t go for the Champion Hurdle if he hadn’t beaten The New One round here, but it was a gruelling enough test because he pulled so hard on heavy ground.

“He has definitely improved from Newcastle, but he needs to step up a little again and hopefully he can.”

Henderson said: “I was pleased with his performance and most of all because AP (McCoy) was pleased with him and he said he’d come on a lot from Newcastle.

“They weren’t going much of a gallop and he couldn’t let him jump. He didn’t do the slick Tent today because he daren’t fire him at a hurdle as he was just getting keen.

“You can’t go a good pace in this ground or else you won’t get home, but I was impressed with the way the first two came away like they did.

“One would be inclined to run him again before Cheltenham. I think he’d go there horribly fresh if he didn’t. When he is fresh, he is keen.

“I think those were the best two in England, but I think the dangers lie in Ireland. There’s Hurricane Fly and Our Conor, who I’m very afraid of. He (McCoy) was a bit sceptical after Newcastle, but said he was impressed today.”

The New One’s trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies said: “He was only beaten half a length and if he hadn’t missed the last he might have got it.

“You don’t want to be making the running in a race like that, and you wish there had been a better gallop – we probably should have put a pacemaker in.

“He probably won’t run again before the Champion Hurdle, but I don’t know, we’ll have to see.”

Twiston-Davies jnr said: “There are a lots of ifs and buts about whether he would have won.

“Nothing we did suited him. It was just very annoying. I wanted to get My Tent Or Yours under pressure early enough, but I couldn’t get him at it.

“He’s done me for toe late on and I was relying on a good jump at the last, it wasn’t quite there.

“My Tent Or Yours beat us on the day but I do know Cheltenham will suit us a lot better. Hopefully there will be a good gallop at Cheltenham.”