Thistlecrack jumps to King George Vi Chase glory at Kempton Park
What you need to know:
- Tea for Two (Lizzie Kelly 25-1), displayed a few dashing moments, but always a modest hope.
- Thistlecrack is now on his own, among the greats, finishing 3 miles in 3:44:9/10 seconds.
Thistlecrack (Tom Scudamore 11-10), jumped well, led most of the King George Vi Chase at Kempton Park, before staying on strongly to win.
Cue Card (Paddy Brennon 5-4), was not such a threat as had been expected. He even nearly lost second place to Silviniaco Conti (Noel Fehily 20-1).
Tea for Two (Lizzie Kelly 25-1), displayed a few dashing moments, but always a modest hope. Thistlecrack and Cue Card are both trained by Colin Tizzard.
Thistlecrack is now on his own, among the greats, finishing 3 miles in 3:44:9/10 seconds. Comparisons are being drawn between him and Kauto Star!
Further afield, Satono Diamond, only 3-year-old of the all-star Arima Kinen, before a crowd of 98,626 at Nakayama racecourse in Japan, marked his second consecutive Grade 1 snipe. This directly followed a Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) blast in October.
Owner Hajime Satomi is enjoying a three-week G1 streak, after claiming the Hong Kong Vase and Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes.
Advancing forward to enter the backstretch right behind Kitasan Black, the son of Deep Impact was given a breather. Chasing persistently behind Kitasan Black and Gold Actor before cheering pundits, Satono Diamond found another level of competence, romping away to pass Gold Actor 50 meters out.
A neck did the trick. Apparently, Santono can be a little difficult at times, pulling Christophe Lemaire's arms early on. It is Christophe's second Arima Kinen.
Fans wagered the equivalent of $501.8 million dollars on the Nakayama card - $352.9 million on the Arima Kinen alone.
