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Power: Sizing John has all the qualities required for King George glory

All smiles: the Sizing John team after the Jessica Harrington star made a triumphant comeback in the John Durkan Memorial Chase
All smiles: the Sizing John team after the Jessica Harrington star made a triumphant comeback in the John Durkan Memorial ChaseCredit: Patrick McCann / (racingpost.com/photos)

Robbie Power believes Sizing John has all the attributes needed to take on rising star Might Bite in the King George VI Chase at Kempton, should Jessica Harrington give last season's Gold Cup hero the go-ahead for a Christmas clash at Kempton.

Power said: "Over the past couple of weeks he felt really good so I wasn't in the least bit surprised by his performance. My biggest concern was the heavy ground as he's shown that better ground is what he really appreciated and I was also aware of Djakadam, with his record in the race, being threat."

Although Harrington was keen to stress Sizing John's options remain open on the road to Cheltenham, Power is confident the seven-year-old can thrive in the King George, for which he is now as short as 4-1, with the market headed by Might Bite at a best-priced 7-4.

"He's got all the qualities required for the King George if that's where Jessie decides he'll next," he said.

"He has loads of speed and showed last year that he stays really well. If it wasn't for Douvan he would probably have never run over longer distances but he's shown he has gears and stamina in abundance."

An uncharacteristic error at the second fence on his way to John Durkan glory may have given connections cause for concern but Power revealed: "That mistake he made at the second fence was a wake-up call for me and the horse.

"It's something he usually doesn't do and it just goes to show that you should never be over confident no matter how good a jumper you're riding. I was going to let him pop it but he guessed at it and got things wrong."

Sizing John's jumping thereafter was excellent however and he produced a stunning leap six fences from home to get within a hair's breadth of Djakadam.

"After the mistake he was perfect," said Power. "He was always travelling better than Djakadam and there was never a moment's worry."


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Mark BoylanReporter

Published on 10 December 2017inReports

Last updated 17:10, 10 December 2017

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