French ace heads 12 for King George Chase.
Tuesday, 23 December 2003 11:43Exciting French prospect Jair Du Cochet heads a field of 12 declared for the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Friday.
Jair Du Cochet has been a leading fancy for the the Christmas feature since Guillaume Macaire's charge defeated Best Mate at Huntingdon in November 22.
Henrietta Knight will be represented by Edredon Bleu, following her decision to run Best Mate in the Ericsson Chase on Sunday.
Francois Doumen's First Gold, a winner in 2000, is the other challenger from across the channel.
Paul Nicholls has decided to run his Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup winner Strong Flow in the Feltham Novices' Chase instead of the King George, in which he will rely on Le Roi Miguel.
Martin Pipe is three-handed with It Takes Time, Tiutchev and Seebald. Peter Bowen's Swansea Bay, unbeaten in his four starts this season, takes a big step up in class for the race. The line-up is completed by Howard Johnson's Valley Henry and the Richard Phillips-trained La Landiere.
Filed by James McMahon
