IMPERIAL Commander is expected to line up in the William Hill King George VI Chase on Boxing Day despite picking up a minor injury during his Betfair Chase success at Haydock Park on Saturday.
Last season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup hero returned to action this term with victory in Haydock’s Grade One feature. But he had a cut afterwards and trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies will keep a check on him ahead of his clash with Kauto Star at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. The Naunton trainer said: “He came back with a little cut on his foreleg. He’ll be in his box for a week and we’ll have to monitor it, obviously, but hopefully we should have him cantering again after that and hopefully have him ready for the King George.”
Imperial Commander is a best-priced 13-2 with Coral behind 11-8 favourite Kauto Star for the Kempton contest. But jockey Paddy Brennan can’t wait to take on Paul Nicholls’ star, who will to win the King George for an unprecedented fifth time.
Imperial Commander disappointed when finishing a distant fifth to Kauto Star 12 months ago, but Brennan is confident of a betting showing from the nine-year-old this time. He said: “In the King George this year I’ll ride him much handier than last year. Obviously we’ve all got the favourite Kauto Star to beat but this year he’s missing one of the most important people associated with him and that’s Ruby Walsh and that gives us all a bit of hope.”
The jockey wished he hadn’t eased Imperial Commander down in the closing stages at Haydock which meant Tidal Bay was just a length and a quarter behind at the line. Even so it was an impressive return to action from Imperial Commander who is a best-priced 9-2 with William Hill to regain his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown next March. Brennan said: “I wasn’t very pleased with my riding towards the finish. I would never want any young jockey to do what I did.
“I put the race to bed, but when I sat up on him it was like a car going into neutral – he really pulled up.
“I stopped riding about 100 yards from the line and was looking after the horse, but we should all learn and push out more to the line.
“On soft ground like that as soon as you drop the accelerator they can go down in gears very quickly.”
Connections of the runner-up, Tidal Bay, were delighted with his efforts and are looking long-term at taking on Imperial Commander again in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Tidal Bay is a 50-1 chance with William Hill, but owner Graham Wylie said: “I didn’t know what to think yesterday morning, but I came away from Haydock thinking we might have a Gold Cup horse.
“If that’s the case we will probably give him just one run before Cheltenham. He ran poorly over hurdles at Wetherby but you just have to mix and match with him, keep him interested.”
Brian Hughes, who was aboard the Howard Johnson-trained gelding, added: “Everyone calls him names but he still has the ability. Haydock wouldn’t suit him like Cheltenham would, but he’s a bit of a monkey and you have to do everything on his terms now.
“He sprinted after the last. He put in a good show and if he can keep that up he can hopefully win a nice race.”
Fourth home at Haydock, Nacarat, will line up in the King George next.
Trainer Tom George is hoping for better ground for the nine-year-old grey. He said: “He’s absolutely fine, he’s A1. He ran a good race but it probably wasn’t his track and the ground was softer than I thought it was. He’s run a solid race on what weren’t his ideal conditions.
“We’ve got six weeks to get him ready for the King George. If we could just get decent ground it would make an enormous difference to him.”
