King George VI Chase Tips: Classy Nicholls star to bound to Kempton glory

A stellar line-up of top notch chasers will line up for the 2022 King George VI Chase, which is the feature race at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, and our in-house tipster Steve Chambers previews the big-race here and picks out his best bet in the Grade 1 showpiece...

Paul Nicholls has an absolutely staggering record in this race having saddled the winner a whopping 12 times and the master of Ditcheat will be trebly represented in the 2022 King George VI Chase and spearheading the team will be BRAVEMANSGAME, who was a stunning winner of the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices' Chase on this card 12 months ago, and one of the market leaders will look to emulate that run on his return to the track.

Excelling last season, as he defeated Ahoy Senor with a stunning display, Bravemansgame will face that Lucinda Russell-trained raider in this year's contest, but the Nicholls raider is a lot shorter in the betting on this occasion and showed he was in fine fettle when storming to a three-and-a-half length win in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.

Beating Eldorado Allen that day, Bravemansgame will have to down that rival again here, but the Nicholls team have targeted this race ever since he claimed Kauto Star glory last season and he looks tailor-made for this assignment. With the Cheltenham Gold Cup unlikely as his stamina will be tested there, Nicholls has already uttered that this could be his big race of the season and it's hard to take him on, should he be at his best.

Hitman will be the second shot fired by the Nicholls gun and that charge finished a promising second in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, and he built on that with a facile win in a graduation chase at Haydock. This is a whole lot tougher than that, and while he will be a lively contender he may lack the class of his stablemate here.

Venetia Williams last trained the winner of the King George VI Chase way back in 1998 when Teeton Mill stormed to victory, but the Grand National-winning trainer has a huge player in the shape of L'Homme Presse, who steps out of the novice sphere this season like Bravemansgame and is a real class act.

A fine winner of the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at last season's Cheltenham Festival, the top notch seven-year-old produced a superb weight-carrying display to bound to glory in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle, and that success put him into the Cheltenham Gold Cup picture. A real classy stayer, he's one that could be Gold Cup bound and it could be that he may just lack that little bit of speed on a flat track, so he is worth taking on at the prices.

2020 winner Frodon will return to the scene of one of his finest performances and will be the third shot fired from the Nicholls gun and he showed his class when defying top weight in the Badger Beers at Wincanton. Quickly turned around in the Betfair Chase, he failed to figure there, but he's been given a break now and will come here in excellent form and has to be considered.

Irish raider Envoi Allen was a Grade 1 winner of the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal last time out and showed he could be a top performer over three miles, but he has blown more cold than hot in recent seasons and can't be trusted completely at this high level and will find it hard for Henry de Bromhead.

Royale Pagaille adds more depth to the Williams charge, but that Peter Marsh Chase hero will need the rain to Kempton Park, if he is to be considered, while Millers Bank completes the line-up and faces a tough ask at this leve.