Jacob Looking Forward To King George

Life in the saddle has rarely been so good for Daryl Jacob and it could become even better on Boxing Day should Bristol De Mai triumph in the 32Red King George VI Chase at Kempton.

Since turning the Betfair Chase at Haydock into a procession aboard the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained grey, Jacob has enjoyed a raft of big-race victories, highlighted by wins for Sceau Royal in the Henry VIII Novices' Chase and Top Notch in the rescheduled Peterborough Chase.

With his confidence high, Jacob, 34, is hoping his purple patch can continue with a first victory in the Christmas showpiece on the Simon Munir- and Isaac Souede-owned six-year-old, who will be one step away from landing the £1million Jockey Club Chase Triple Crown should he oblige.

Jacob said: "The horses are running fantastically well and it is a great team I have with Simon and Isaac, and Anthony Bromley (owners' racing manager) is a massive part of that, too - he deserves an awful lot of credit for what he has done.

"I'm looking forward to the King George, his win in the Betfair Chase was very impressive and he did well there.

"I didn't think he would win by that distance at Haydock, but I did think he had a great chance in the race. I felt he would improve from the Charlie Hall and he duly did, like we saw.

"I'm happy and Nigel is happy and we are all now looking forward to the King George."

Although the conditions of the three-mile contest are likely to present a different test to the stamina-sapping ones at Haydock, the Grand National-winning rider does not believe it will cause any issues to the triple Grade One winner.

He added: "I don't think it will ever be quick ground at Kempton this time of year. The ground at Kempton will be soft enough for him.

"People can talk, and let them talk, but we are confident enough to think the horse will handle it. The ground will be tiring."

Having been a great believer in the horse since winning on him on his British debut in the Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow back in December 2014, Jacob feels he is now approaching the peak of his powers.

Jacob said: "He came in looking great this year. It is the best year he has come back from a holiday and it is maybe because he is just finally filling into his frame.

"He is still a relatively young horse, but every year he has come back into training he has been bigger and stronger.

"He is just a lovely, big horse that can jump and gallop - you need the ability to do both to win those top-class races."

While the betting suggests Might Bite is the horse they all have to beat, Jacob believes there are plenty of other dangers.

He said: "It is a Grade One, so you can never worry about one horse, every horse that is in the race is entitled to be there and you have to respect every horse in the race.

"He will have improved again since Haydock and he will need to have improved again to beat something like Might Bite, Thistlecrack, Fox Norton or Whisper.

"The King George is a great race, but I'm not taking it for granted as we have got to get it in the bag first. No one knows who is going to win the race, but we will be going there trying our best."