Sean Bowen set to partner Banbridge in King George VI Chase defence on first ride for Joseph O'Brien

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A small twist of fate may have prevented Sean Bowen and Banbridge from already being a King George VI Chase-winning partnership, but the pair will get their chance on Friday week with Britain's leading jockey set to partner the defending champion at Kempton.

Last year Bowen was in contention for the ride on the eventual winner of an epic duel with Il Est Francais, but his job as number one for Olly Murphy took him to Aintree and Paul Townend stepped in to add the Christmas highlight to his vast array of big-race wins.

This time around it is Townend whose main job has stripped him of availability, with boss Willie Mullins responsible for market leaders Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File. With both confirmed on target for the race and Fact To File's owner JP McManus retaining Mark Walsh, Townend is expected to partner Gaelic Warrior.

In turn, Banbridge's trainer Joseph O'Brien has lined up Britain's champion jockey to partner the nine-year-old, who warmed up for the King George with a distant fourth over an inadequate trip in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork this month.

Reacting to the news, Bowen said: "I don't think I've ridden for him, so it's nice to get the call. It was mentioned last year that I may ride him and then I went to Aintree. I'd love to have been riding him last year when he won, so hopefully we can do it again this year."

On the heartbreak of missing out, he added: "Look, I ride for Olly and I go where his horses go, and that's where I had to be last Boxing Day, so luckily this year we can go to the best meeting on Boxing Day, and be riding in the best races. It'd be nice to ride a winner of the King George, or at least a winner on King George day, anyway."

Banbridge (right): stayed on best to beat Il Est Francais

Banbridge (right) beats Il Est Francais in the race last yearCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

For the pair to win the King George together Bowen fears it may require an even better effort than last year, such is the star-studded nature of this year's race.

On their chance, he said: "He's a winner of the race, so it's good to be riding a horse who's won the race before. Looking at the race this year it looks like he's going to need to step up on what he did last year, but it's nice to be riding a previous winner.

"You want to be riding in the big races and you want to be winning the big races."

Banbridge will not be Bowen's only chance on Boxing Day, with his boss Murphy also targeting the card, and he added: "He runs a couple in the handicaps, ones we think will hopefully go well, so he'll definitely have a few coming to Boxing Day."

O'Brien has never used Bowen before but revealed the planned booking on Thursday.

He said: "It looks most likely that Sean Bowen will ride him at this stage. Obviously there's a lot of moving parts over those few days, but it looks like Sean will probably ride him. It's exciting to be going there with one of the contenders."

Banbridge has finished seventh in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, fourth in the Punchestown Gold Cup and fourth in the Hilly Way since his King George win and is as big as 20-1 to defend his crown.

Speaking to the Nick Luck Daily podcast, O'Brien also revealed Banbridge is set to have some new headgear on his return to Kempton.

He said: "He had two good runs heading into Kempton last year. He's had one this year and his reappearance was probably similar to his reappearance last year. We think he's come forward well for that run and he'll enjoy going back up in distance on better ground.

"He's going to probably get a visor for the first time and we're looking forward to competing in a particularly strong King George. He's an older horse and needs to focus, particularly in a race like that when every stride counts."

Ladbrokes King George VI Chase (2.30 Kempton, December 26)
Ladbrokes: 9-4 Gaelic Warrior, 5-2 Fact To File, Jango Baie, 8 The Jukebox Man, 10 Djelo, 14 Banbridge, 20 bar.

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