King George next for Barbers Nicky Henderson confirmed Barbers Shop will miss an engagement at Ascot this weekend in favour of the William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen's Day. The Queen's horse has only raced once this season, when fourth to Denman in the Hennessy at Newbury, and Henderson would prefer to spare him the rigours of carrying top weight in the Sodexo Prestige Silver Cup Handicap Chase on Saturday. The Upper Lambourn trainer said today: "We are thinking of going for the King George. We had a long chat about it this morning, and we always knew we didn't really want him to have to carry 11st 12lb in a handicap." "He is a horse that falls between a horrible grey area. We know there will probably be 10 runners in the King George, three or four of which he can certainly beat, but with maybe three or four he can't. But three miles around Kempton will be ideal."
