Three of the best: Irish King George winners over the years The King George VI Chase is one of the jewels in the crown of National Hunt racing in Britain and is arguably the best race of the season outside of the Cheltenham Festival. Every trainer wants to win it and there have been plenty of Irish successes since its inception. This year’s renewal is shaping up to be another classic and Willie Mullins’ entries are dominating the ante-post markets. The King George has gone the way of Ireland in each of the last two years so we’re taking a look back at some of the greatest Irish winners. This list includes one of the greatest horses of all time and a two-time winner in the early 2000s, who also won a Cheltenham Gold Cup. Arkle There aren’t many horses who have valid claims for greatest of all time status but Arkle is certainly one of them. This horse was so good there’s a Cheltenham Festival race named after him and he’s known for winning handicaps off ridiculous weights. Tom Dreaper trained him and he’s perhaps most famous for winning three consecutive Gold Cups at the Cheltenham Festival. His titanic clashes with Mill House are the stuff of legend and he got the better of his great rival in the 1964 Gold Cup. In a shocking turn of events, authorities devised two separate weight systems for the 1964 Irish Grand National, depending on whether or not Arkle turned up. He did but still managed to come out on top, giving 30lb or more to his rivals. He won the Gallaher Gold Cup and his second Hennessy Gold Cup en route to lining up in the 1965 King George and he made no mistake, absolutely bolting up. Only Kauto Star can threaten his status as the best ever winner of the race. Captain Christy The Pat Taafe-trained Captain Christy was an exceptional hurdler, winning the Irish Champion Hurdle in 1973, but there was even more to come over fences the following year. Lining up in the 1974 King George, it was a warm race and the great Pendil was in opposition. Bobby Coonan rode Captain Christy to victory and he managed to beat Pendil comfortably in the end. The gelding then followed up a year later and that was unfortunately the last we saw of him on a racecourse as a leg injury ended his career. He may well have gone on to celebrate more King George success if not for that. Kicking King Another one for the Taaffe family, Tom Taaffe trained this horse to win the Arkle at Cheltenham in 2004 but his best efforts were to come over longer trips. He won the John Durkan in good style before the King George that year for which he went off the 3/1 favourite. Barry Geraghty’s mount was 10 lengths clear jumping the last but a serious error crippled his momentum, although he was still able to recover to win comfortably enough in the end. Gold Cup glory then followed while he also retained his King George crown at Sandown the following year. Injury led to him missing more than two years after that and he wasn’t quite the same upon his return. However, He will still go down as one of the best horses to win the race this century.
