The incredibly exciting prospect Bravemansgame came out on top in the Ladbrokes King George VI results at Kempton today (26 December 2022).
Bravemansgame, ridden by Harry Cobden and trained by Paul Nicholls, went off at a price of 11/4 as second favourite to L’Homme Presse, to win comfortably by 14 lengths.
“This horse has now got a way of going where I can get into the race with him behind the bridle – he used to be too keen,” explained 23-year-old Harry, for whom this was a second King George VI victory, when speaking to ITV Racing. “I’ve worked out how to ride him, Paul has got spot him on. He’s a very good horse and every bit as much of a stayer as I thought he was going to be. This is a great day.
“It means a lot. The last one I won was in 2018 [on Clan Des Obeaux] and I definitely didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have done. It sounds a bit silly but now I’m 23, I appreciate these big days as they don’t come around that often.”
Harry expanded on the plans for Bravemansgame, a seven-year-old, who is owned by John Dance and Bryan Drew.
“We have learnt that he doesn’t take lots of racing very well – he puts a lot into it and then goes quite light so he doesn’t want many more runs than four each year,” said Harry. “If he was mine, I would now be taking him straight to the Gold Cup [without a run in-between].”
Paul Nicholls, who has now trained a record 13 King George VI winners, confirmed this would be the plan for Bravemansgame, who now has three Grade One victories to his name.
“It was a hell of a race. They went a good gallop and old Frodon gave them a good lead. Bravemansgame stayed on strong and showed his strengths. He is just a maturing horse and we have trained him for today. He’s not been the easiest to train, but we know him now and he will go straight to the Cheltenham Gold Cup [in March]”.
The favourite, L’Homme Presse, trained by Venetia Williams and ridden by Charlie Deutsch, jumped to his left throughout the right-handed race, impeding Bravemansgame at times, particularly in the initial stages of the race. L’Homme Presse ultimately unseated Charlie at the last, but neither horse nor jockey were the worse for wear.
“L’Homme Presse jumped out left across Bravemansgame a fair bit, but as a jockey, you don’t want to take a pull and put your horse in behind in that kind of race,” explained Paul. “So Harry ended up just going a bit wider so that L’Homme Presse didn’t impede him so much.”
Frodon, who is also trained by Paul Nicholls, finished third under Bryony Frost, going off at a price of 18/1.
“I’m very proud of Frodon as he’s 10 years old, going on 11,” said Paul. “I love this sport and you always have to look forward and look back.
“It’s fantastic and I like being at the top of my game. I have to give special mentions to Clifford Baker, who has been my head lad for years, Scott Marshall, who rides Bravemansgame every day and Harry, who is an ever-improving young jockey – it’s amazing.”
Venetia Williams’ other runner in this race, bar L’Homme Presse, was Royale Pagaille, who finished second under Tom Scudamore – they went off at a price of 12/1.
Eldorado Allen was fourth under Brendan Powell for trainer Joe Tizzard, while Ahoy Senor, who has had some issues jumping in the past, looked to jump around nicely enough to finish fifth for Scottish trainer Lucinda Russell under Derek Fox.
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Bravemansgame: everything you need to know about this key Cheltenham Festival contender
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