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The King George was Dessie's race - but a rare defeat is most memorable for me
The King George is a week today and for those of us of a certain vintage the race will forever be associated with the great Desert Orchid.
One of my favourite memories involving the horse is longstanding Racing Post sub-editor Martin Smethurst's young son running around his statue at Kempton shouting: "I hate Dessie." It is fair to say he was probably the only person who did.
The magnificent grey was a standing dish at Kempton over Christmas and won the King George four times, in 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990. So what happened in 1987? Well, one of the most bizarre races run is the answer.
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