Nicholls fancied Commander match Paul Nicholls says he is more disappointed than anyone that Imperial Commander isn't running in the William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton on Saturday. The champion trainer saddles Kauto Star who is bidding to win the race for a fifth successive season but he won't face the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup hero. Nigel Twiston-Davies claimed last week he'd have run Imperial Commander had the race been reopened rather than the original final entries standing. Writing in his exclusive column at www.betfair.com/paulnicholls, the champion trainer said: "No-one would have loved to see Imperial Commander take on Kauto Star at Kempton on Saturday more than me. "But the race was only re-opened back to the original overnight declarations, so unfortunately that option didn't exist. "To be honest, I'm not certain that there is a specific rule in place for something as extreme as the rescheduling of this year's King George. But if it happens again, perhaps the way to go would be to allow the race to be re-opened back to the original entries. "But even if that did happen, I am not sure that we would have had any more horses lining up in the race on Saturday. It would have been interesting to see if Imperial Commander had run if given the opportunity. It is obviously in the sport's interest to have the best horses taking on each other in the big races, though."
