Clan Des Obeaux posts impressive figure as most rivals fail to fire

He had something to find on the figures, but Clan Des Obeaux (176+) ran out a decisive winner of the King George VI Chase, posting a winning Racing Post Rating that has been bettered only once in the previous six years.

With the veteran Coneygree taking the field along at a decent pace, the winner clocked a time around two seconds quicker than that recorded by La Bague Au Roi (153) in a deep-looking Grade 1 novice earlier on the card and, despite some below-par runs from the more established stars, the form looks solid.

Although half a dozen of the runners took RPRs in excess of 172 into the race, there were nagging doubts about all of them and in the event only one of the sextet, 2016 winner Thistlecrack (174), ran up to scratch.