King George field excites Clifford

Clerk of the course Barney Clifford is looking forward to what promises to be an enthralling afternoon at Kempton on Friday as the William Hill King George VI Chase takes centre stage on another action-packed Boxing Day bonanza.

While Sedgefield’s festive fixture will need to pass a precautionary inspection at 8.30am on raceday, the other 11 meetings in Britain and Ireland combined look set to go ahead without any problems, with Clifford expecting runners to encounter “beautiful ground” at the Sunbury-on-Thames circuit.