Horse Talk with Simon Jackson:

Top horse racing tips and the latest news.

ENVOI Allen is taken to make his first start at Kempton Park a winning one when he contests the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase on Boxing Day.

The eight-year-old faces a maximum of eight rivals in Kempton’s showpiece race of the season and will relish the three miles distance of the King George; the trip he proved so effective at when winning at Down Royal in November.

Henry de Bromhead’s charge was mighty impressive when beating the classy Kemboy by one- and three-quarter lengths in the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal and appears to be back to his best.

Envoi Allen won his first 11 races under rules, the victories including back-to-back victories at the Cheltenham Festival, winning the Weatherbys Champion Bumper in 2019 and Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle the next year.

He failed to secure a successive hat-trick of Festival victories when falling in the Marsh Novices’ Chase in 2021 and appeared to relish the step up to three miles at Down Royal where he claimed the lead at the last fence and stayed on well to win impressively under Rachael Blackmore.

“We were delighted with Envoi [at Down Royal] and he seems to have come out of the race in great order,” de Bromhead said of his charge who was cut to 14-1 from 25-1 immediately after that race and is now best priced at 15-2 for the King George.

“I was running him over two miles last season but he certainly hit the line very well over three miles on Saturday. He saw out every yard of it. The plan is to go to the King George with him now so we’ll look forward to that with him,” the trainer said immediately after the Down Royal victory.

Read ‘Horse Talk with Simon Jackson’ for top horse racing tips and the latest news.