One Man heads list for the King George

ONE MAN, bidding to win the Pertemps King George VI Chase for the second time, heads the entries for the £100,000-added three…

ONE MAN, bidding to win the Pertemps King George VI Chase for the second time, heads the entries for the £100,000-added three-miler at Kempton on St Stephen's Day, for which a list of 16 horses was published yesterday.

With the weather wreaking havoc with the Christmas programme in 1995 and no racing taking place on St Stephen's Day 12 months ago, the race was rerouted to Sandown's Anthony Mildmay/Peter Cazalet card on January 6th.

Despite the change of venue, the result remained as expected, with One Man galloping to a 14-length victory over Monsieur led Cure to justify 11-4 favouritism.

The grey confirmed his well-being with a resounding seven-length victory over Barton Bank in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby a month ago and trainer Gordon Richards said yesterday: "One Man has canters every day and has the odd day off but he did three this morning and I am very pleased with him."

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The eight-year-old had a flawless campaign in 1995-96 before running as if having something] amiss when a most disappointing sixth to Imperial Call in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

Richards is keen for One Man to put that performance behind him when returning to the Festival in the spring, but clearly sees the King George as more than a dress rehearsal for Cheltenham.

"I want him to be at his best when he goes to win the King George. I want to win that race and all I am worried about is getting him there," he added. "What beats him there is a good horse."

As well as One Man two other previous winners Barton Bank and the Francois Doumen-trained Algan, who profited from Barton Bank's last-fence fall to claim the race in 199 figure among the entries.

The David Nicholson-trained 1993 winner Barton Bank who is accompanied in the entry list by fellow Jackdaws Castle inmate, Kadi, ran a creditable race over an insufficient trip when fifth in the inaugural Murphy's Gold Cup last month and is an intended runner in three weeks' time.

The Martin Pipe-trained Challenger du Luc, successful in the Murphy's but a faller in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday, is also present, along with the Charlie Brooks trio Couldnt Be Better, the 1995 Hennessy winner, Double Symphony and Suny Bay.