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Tuesday’s racing round-up brings news of a likely supplementary entry to the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day…
Patrick Neville has suggested his stable star The Real Whacker is likely to be supplemented to the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase field at Kempton on Boxing Day. A winner of the Grade 1 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival two seasons ago, The Real Whacker will be hoping to go a few spots better than when fourth in the festive feature last year. Patrick Neville's star didn't exactly reach the heights some had expected last season, but he arrives having sidestepped the Betfair Chase after making a winning reappearance in the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby in early November.
The improving King Turgeon could be trained with the Grand National in mind after his latest success at Cheltenham on Friday took his rating to 139. David Pipe's improving chaser will need a further hike in the weights should he be guaranteed a spot in the Aintree feature come April, but with additional improvement certainly possible, the Pond House-based handler is keen to keep the race in mind for his progressive grey.
Smart flat horse Wise Eagle took his record to two from three over hurdles with a facile success in the Horseshoe Cafe Bar Opens Today Novices' Hurdle at Catterick this afternoon. The Adam Nicol-trained seven-year-old is rated 102 on the level following some rock-solid performances last year, which included victory in the valuable Queen's Cup at Musselburgh prior to an excellent second-place finish behind Andrew Balding's Coltrane in the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes at Ascot. The gelded son of Free Eagle was sent off a 1/4 chance to follow up his recent victory over hurdles at Musselburgh and with the minimum of fuss, he pulled fourteen lengths clear of his nearest rival to score for jockey Craig Nichol.
Evan Williams' impressive recent Cheltenham winner Libberty Hunter could step back up in Graded company in the not-so-distant future. The eight-year-old, who finished second in the Grand Annual at the Cheltenham Festival and third in the Grade 1 Maghull at Aintree last season, was raised 7lb by the handicapper on Tuesday after his ready four-length success on his seasonal return at Prestbury Park on Saturday.