King George card put back

Kauto Star will have to wait until Monday to bid for an unprecedented fifth King George VI Chase victory after Kempton abandoned their Sunday card.

Clerk of the course Brian Clifford had been due to inspect the track at 12 noon ahead of the William Hill-sponsored Christmas feature. However, he opted to check conditions a little earlier and called off the fixture, with Monday's meeting subject to a 2pm inspection on Sunday.

Clifford said: "With temperatures forecast to rise to 3C on Monday morning, we are optimistic that racing will go ahead that day. Unfortunately, there is no prospect that the milder air will arrive in time for Boxing Day."

He went on: "There is no frost in the ground, but our protective covers are still frozen to the grass with some frozen snow on top of them, so we have no alternative but to abandon Boxing Day's racecard."

Monday's card is now set to feature eight races, with Kauto Star going for glory at 3.15pm while the williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle has also been transferred with a start time of 2.40pm.