King George Chase Contenders 2011 - Long Run
Long Run has established himself as the top chaser in the UK over the past year and will go into the 2011 King George Chase as the warm favourite to take the win. He won the race last season at Kempton when he was the young upstart and he followed up with an equally impressive win in the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. Long Run had long been highly thought of since coming over to Britain from France and he realised that potential last season in emphatic style.
It is worth noting that Long Run remains a young horse and could well be a horse to watch in the King George over the next three or four years in similar style to the great Kauto Star. We saw Long Run make his seasonal debut at Haydock in the Betfair Chase and he looked like he needed the run as he could only manage a distant second behind Kauto Star. Long Run made a number of jumping errors as he was put under pressure by Kauto Star who rolled back the years to claim a famous win to the delight of the fans.
It was clear that day that Long Run will be fitter on Boxing Day for the run and the fact that he plugged on well when beaten was an encouraging sign for his backers. His jumping though has to be a slight concern as he made a number of mistakes at Haydock when under the pressure of a fast gallop from Kauto Star. There is no doubt that Long Run goes into the race as a worthy favourite after his exploits last season but he is by no means bomb proof in the betting.
Notable Long Run Performances
- 2010 King George Chase
- 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup
- 2009 Feltham Novices Chase
