King George: Banbridge reels in Il Est Francais for Kempton glory | Racing News happymamay

Paul Townend timed his time to perfection in the Banbridge to defeat Il Est Francais and land the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton.

The French raider, trained by Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, produced an impressive show of jumping under James Revelli and turned in the straight to extend his lead to almost 10 lengths.

However, the Paul Townend in the Joseph O’Brien-trained Banbridge (7-1) was making a great effort and was holding his grip on the lively leader, who has been so impressive on this card for the past 12 months.

Having set in to tire, Il Est Francais approached hard to the finish, giving Banbridge a chance and when he met her in a long stride, he went down with all the momentum and held on to win by a length and three-quarters.

Given the way the race was run with Il Est Francais putting them to the sword from somewhere, some very good horses did not participate.

The likes of Spillane’s Tower, Envoi Allen, and Gray Dawning, who made an early mistake, never made it to the races.

It was L’Homme Presse, having his first Tour of the season, who fared best of the rest in third place with The Real Whacker justifying the decision to complement him by taking fourth place for the second year in a row.

O’Brien said: “It’s a special win. I’m happy for Ronnie (Bartlett’s owner) and the team. He’s been a special horse for us over the years.

“Winning a race like King George is something to dream about, although I do feel a little sorry for JJ (Slevin, the regular jockey who rode in Ireland) who had a great connection with the horse but couldn’t come and ride him. Paul has given him Great trip today.

“Kempton is a flat track and the emphasis is on speed over this distance more than anywhere else. Paul was happy to find a nice pace and the race was good for him.

“I actually thought Il Est Francais had turned for home, but our horse just galloped all the way to the finish line. His resolve and stamina were tested, but he had enough for the day.

“It’s really special, I grew up watching it, to have a runner is special but a winner is a dream come true.

“We are going to enjoy today, see how he improves and discuss plans and see what we all like to do.”

He added: “After Punchestown Ronnie called me and said he wanted to go to King George, we made a plan to do two two-mile runs to improve his jumping skills, put the headgear back on and felt he was ready to put his legs to work.”