Tom George is eagerly anticipating Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais\u2019s first appearance at Ascot in Saturday\u2019s Ladbrokes 1965 Chase since settling in Britain. The seven-year-old, officially named George, started his career in France under Noel and Amanda Zetterholm, winning several graded races at Auteuil and the 2023 Cout Star Novice Chase at Kempton.<\/p>\n
He returned to racing in the UK last Christmas with a second-place finish in the King George VI Chase but faced a setback at the Cheltenham Festival\u2019s Ryanair Chase. Following this, the decision was made to bring him back to Britain, focusing again on the Kempton Festival as his main goal.<\/p>\n
George shared, \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to his return. He feels good and is ready for the season.\u201d He added that Noel Zetterholm recently visited and was impressed with the horse\u2019s progress and adaptation in Gloucestershire. Saturday\u2019s race will serve as a valuable starting point, although the ultimate target remains the Boxing Day event.<\/p>\n
The trainer is optimistic about Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais\u2019s fitness and readiness but admits some uncertainty about how he will handle Ascot\u2019s hillier course, as opposed to Kempton\u2019s layout. James Reveley, who knows the horse well, will be riding him.<\/p>\n
In the same race, Paul Nicholls will ride Pick Dolly, a two-time winner of this major event and the Ascot Chase. Nicky Henderson\u2019s contender is last season\u2019s Arkle Chase winner Django Bey, while Harry Fry\u2019s Gidley Park and the Twiston-Davies duo\u2019s Master Chewy complete the field.<\/p>\n
Despite some past health concerns, Gidley Park is prepared for the season, with Fry confident about his form. Master Chewy, who recently placed second at Aintree, is seen by Willie Twiston-Davies as a strong contender with major wins under his belt.<\/p>\n
Fan Take: This race is a thrilling early-season clash that showcases top talent and rising stars, signaling an exciting year ahead for National Hunt racing. Fans should watch closely, as the performances here could shape key narratives and rivalries for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tom George is eagerly anticipating Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais\u2019s first appearance at Ascot in Saturday\u2019s Ladbrokes 1965 Chase since settling in Britain. The seven-year-old, officially named George, started his career in France under Noel and Amanda Zetterholm, winning several graded races at Auteuil and the 2023 Cout Star Novice Chase at Kempton. He returned to racing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2443],"tags":[2955],"class_list":{"0":"post-27626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fighting","8":"tag-horse-racing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}