Clan Des Obeaux's groom and Cyrname's work-rider with his King George insight

Scott Marshall has worked for Paul Nicholls for five years and is in the enviable position of looking after Clan Des Obeaux and partnering him on the gallops. The 33-year-old is also the regular rider of Cyrname and assesses next week's Ladbrokes King George VI Chase.

Their training is very similar and the preparation with Clan has been very similar to last year. He went to Down Royal instead of Haydock, but everything else has been exactly the same. A lot of our horses do come on for the run and we left a bit to improve, and he's shown that at home. He's a stronger horse and he's still only seven, so he's entitled to improve and strengthen up.

He's quite straightforward on the gallops, but Cyrname definitely wasn't when he first came. It was difficult for Paul [Nicholls] to train him the way he wanted and there are still signs of that now, but he's much more manageable, hence why he's improved so much in his last three runs.