Presse camp conceding ‘home’ advantage to Bravemansgame at Kempton

Connections anticipating tough King George test on flat track – but rain is a positive.

Connections of Ladbrokes King George VI Chase favourite L’Homme Presse admit they are “playing away” when taking on Bravemansgame in the mouthwatering Boxing Day feature at Kempton.

The Venetia Williams-trained L’Homme Presse recorded a comfortable victory in his comeback run under Charlie Deutsch in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle.

Though the winning margin was a length, the manner of the weight-carrying performance makes him a general 6-1 chance for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Last season he powered to success in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham and suffered his sole defeat in seven chase starts when Ahoy Senor turned the tables in the Mildmay at Aintree.

Similarly, that was also the race in which the Paul Nicholls-trained Bravemansgame tasted his only fencing defeat and that rival opened this campaign in style, scoring readily in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby under Harry Cobden.

Now the pair are set to lock horns again in the three-mile showpiece at the Sunbury circuit.

“I was at Taunton on Tuesday with a runner and I walked the course,” said co-owner Andy Edwards, who runs his horses under the DFA Racing banner.

“Harry Cobden was coming off the course and we had a little chat in general.

“I said to him it is very simple. If this was a football match, we’d say you were playing at home and we are playing away from home.

“If the match was at Cheltenham, we’d be playing at home, and you’d be away from home.

“That doesn’t mean teams don’t win away from home, but that is the edge they have on us.”

Kempton’s flat track could play to the strengths of Bravemansgame as he bids to give the champion trainer a record 13th success in the Grade One event.

However, Edwards, who owns the seven-year-old with Pam Edwards and Peter and Pat Pink, is just pleased to have a runner in the illustrious race.

L'Homme Presse, Hereford
L’Homme Presse with co-owner Andy Edwards (Simon Milham/PA)

He added: “We are massively excited. It is like a drawn out version of Countdown with the clock ticking.

“We are looking forward to a fantastic King George – there is only one King George – and it is an absolute honour and privilege to not only have a horse with a chance in it, but a favourite’s chance in such a prestigious race.

“All four of us have come from a similar place as racehorse fans and for us to be on this stage is wonderful and amazing, and very, very humbling. That’s how we all feel.

“Pam worked for the Tote for 30 years before Betfred bought it out. She started in the Putney office and started as a Saturday girl before that in the East End of London.

“And for Peter and Pat, the four of us to be on that stage, with our horse that we adore, it really is a fairytale story.”

Venetia Williams will hope Kempton sees plenty of rain ahead of the big Boxing Day date
Venetia Williams will hope Kempton sees plenty of rain ahead of the big Boxing Day date (Mike Egerton/PA)

Recent rain – with the potential for more to come – has led to the ground easing and L’Homme Presse was imperious in the mud when dispatching Ahoy Senor over an extended three miles at the Cheltenham Festival, looking every inch a Gold Cup horse.

Bravemansgame, meanwhile, has already won over the sharper three miles at Kempton, taking the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on the same card last year. All of which sets up a potentially titanic clash.

“I have faith in everything,” said Edwards. “I have complete faith in the horse, complete faith in the trainer and complete faith in the jockey. So when people ask if I’m getting nervous, I’m not. I’m getting excited.

“It will be what it will be, and I truly hope it will be a magnificent spectacle for everyone involved.

“That is for the people watching, people involved with their horses – that is what racing needs, magnificent spectacles.

“And if we can be part of creating a magnificent spectacle, may the best horse on the day win, may they all come back happy and safe and that everyone has had a great day out watching sport – because that is what it is. It is sport. Let’s all be sporting about it.

“Let’s all cheer the winner, the second, third and fourth, whoever wins any race. Let’s all be sporting about it, which is what DFA Racing is founded upon.”

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