Harry Cobden is set to ride Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais for the first time in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. The seven-year-old horse made a strong impression by winning the Cout Star Novice Chase at the same course and distance two years ago. Last season, Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais looked poised to succeed in this major race but was narrowly beaten by Banbridge in the final stages.<\/p>\n
Although James Reverie has been the jockey for nine of Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais\u2019 ten career victories, officials have decided to bring in a new rider for this significant event. Trainer Tom George told the Press Association, \u201cHarry Cobden will be riding in the King George. Harry has been heavily involved with the horse since its arrival in the UK and knows him well. This change is not a reflection on James. The horse is now based in England, so we\u2019ll see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since a strong performance last year, Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais has struggled to find his top form. He was pulled up during the 1965 Chase at Ascot last month, marking his first race since relocating from France to England. However, George remains optimistic that returning to Kempton will help the horse rebound. He explained, \u201cThe horse seemed a bit off at Ascot, so we\u2019ve made some adjustments and done a lot of training with him. He\u2019s been very sharp in training, and even Noel George (a former trainer) praised how good he\u2019s feeling now.\u201d <\/p>\n
George added, \u201cKempton has reinvigorated him \u2014 he\u2019s fresh, sharp, and we hope he can return to his form from last year and the year before. Even if Ascot didn\u2019t go as planned, he\u2019s prepared well, and this is shaping up to be a competitive race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fan Take: This jockey switch and fresh training approach inject excitement and hope for Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais fans, signaling a potential comeback for a talented horse. For horse racing enthusiasts, it underscores how strategic changes can impact performance and add drama to top-tier races like the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Harry Cobden is set to ride Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais for the first time in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. The seven-year-old horse made a strong impression by winning the Cout Star Novice Chase at the same course and distance two years ago. Last season, Ile Est Fran\u00e7ais looked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2443],"tags":[2955],"class_list":{"0":"post-34280","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\/34280","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=34280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}