King George VI Chase meeting: horse racing – live updates from Kempton Park

Hermes Allen 6/4

Il Est Francais 6/4

Giovinco 9/2

Marble Sands 16/1

Tightenourbelts 25/1

Kilbeg King 30/1

Odds via BestofBets.com

A cracking Grade One novice chase and a welcome hint that French jumping could be on an upward trajectory after a decade or more when most of their best prospects were immediately snapped up for six-figure sums and shipped off to Ireland. Il Est Francais, the winner of his first two starts over fences at Auteuil, is a fascinating contender from Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm’s yard near Chantilly, and would be the first French-trained winner at this meeting since 2002, when Guilliaume Macaire’s Jair Du Cochet won the same race. He is clearly a fine prospect Timeform’s assessment of his form to date gives him a fair bit to find with the favourite, Hermes Allen, however, and Paul Nicholls’s runner, who started off over fences with a win in a Grade Two event, is likely to take all the beating.