The King George crowd is a real concern - but those who came to Kempton were richly entertained

On an extraordinary King George day we went from the sublime to the ridiculous, although Shishkin, who has increasingly veered towards the ridiculous, was on this occasion sublime. It was not enough. An exceptional French chaser and a horse who might be the greatest hurdler of all time gave us sights to behold, but the star of this show, an unforgettable show, was Hewick.

It turned out to be a fortuitous move by the South Shore production company responsible for ITV's new primetime racing docuseries that it chose this particular Kempton card for the first day of filming. Fortune was not so kind to Shishkin and Nico de Boinville. Time will tell whether a 9pm audience appreciates the rare brilliance of Il Est Francais and Constitution Hill. What is surely beyond doubt is viewers unfamiliar to this sport will lap up Shark Hanlon and his wild celebrations. They will also understand the drama that played out two strides after the 17th fence of the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase.

There was a danger the main course of this Boxing Day feast could have turned into an anti-climax, such was the thrilling brilliance we savoured in the day's opening two Grade 1s. The King George proved to be an altogether different sort of spectacle. We wondered whether Shishkin would start, blissfully unaware he would not finish. Seldom, however, has a horse charged towards Kempton's winning post with the irresistible commitment of Hewick. Seldom has a King George-winning jockey marked the moment of victory with the joy unleashed by Gavin Sheehan.