Racing: Business is still the class act

SHOULD See More Business do the business in the 49th King George VI Chase tomorrow he will be keeping distinguished company. The only Cheltenham Gold Cup winners so far to have followed up in Kempton's mid-season showpiece have been Cottage Rake, Mill House, Arkle, Captain Christy, Burrough Hill Lad and Desert Orchid. In other words, six of the best horses ever to cross a fence in anger.

The King George, inaugurated in 1937 to honour the unexpected new monarch after the abdication of Edward VIII, is generally regarded as the calendar's second most important test for staying chasers. But the three-mile contest produces the best performer of the season more often than the Gold Cup, which is run over an idiosyncratic course and demands stamina far in excess of speed.

See More Business has already won a King George, two years ago. Challenger Du Luc jumped the last on terms but said "after you" on the run-in; dual winner One Man failed to cope with the soggy going that produced a time more than half- a-minute slower than his record set the previous year. It may have been a substandard renewal, but See More Business, in his prime at nine, is now a very much better horse. He has been transformed by the application of blinkers, not because he was in any way ungenuine but because they concentrate his mind on the job in hand, jumping.

He had always been inclined to miss one in a round, but on his seasonal debut in the Charlie Hall Chase in October he looked very slick indeed, even when taken on by Looks Like Trouble, two years his junior and a size bigger. He jumped like the old pro he now is and gave weight and a decisive 10-length beating to the young pretender. He may not have the charisma of some of the other dual or multiple winners, a Desert Orchid or a One Man, but looks like the class act.

Looks Like Trouble, underrated winner of the Royal & Sun (Novices') Alliance Chase, followed up Wetherby, where there was much to like about the way he cruised upsides See More Business for so long, with what was little more than an exhibition round at Sandown and will be much sharper now.

Paul Nicholls' other representative is Double Thriller, and if See More Business misses the race - he was pulled up last year on very testing ground and will not run if the going deteriorates into a bog again - his stablemate will give Looks Like Trouble plenty to do. He has not been seen since falling at the first in the Grand National, but before that finished a creditable fourth in the Gold Cup, fading after being ridden forcibly. He has won from the front at Wincanton, a similarly sharp right- handed track to Kempton.

Dorans Pride, the winningmost horse in the field with 18 victories, would be the first Irish winner since Captain Christy 24 years ago. The more rain that falls the better for the 10-year-old chestnut who - placed in two Gold Cups but in top company better suited by tomorrow's three miles - is in good heart and looks each-way value.

Dr Leunt beat Go Ballistic, whose stable is in flying form, in the Rehearsal Chase at Chepstow 22 days ago in receipt of 16lb. But he operates well round Kempton and finished in front of the Gold Cup runner-up at levels at Aintree in April.

A cracking afternoon's other Grade One contest is the Feltham Novices' Chase, designed to pinpoint the staying stars of the future. Lord Noelie's victory at Newbury last time, when he drew right away from subsequent Cheltenham winner Lady Cricket, marked him as a real contender in the division but he is another soft- ground defector.

The prospect of a family double - ultra-game Mister One is See More Business's young half-brother - may be thwarted by Gloria Victis, who should appreciate the return to a right-handed track and a longer distance.

Hitman is a fascinating hurdling recruit in the opener but King Kato, second to Far Cry last time, sets the standard. Ascot faller Hidebound can bounce back in the Wayward Lad Novices' Chase and Kings Boy may take the closing stayers' handicap hurdle.