Clan Des Obeaux all set for Kempton hat-trick in King George on Boxing Day

The eight-year-old was beaten two lengths by Bristol De Mai, who outstayed his opponent in testing conditions, and will now bid to emulate racing greats Desert Orchid and Kauto Star by winning a third successive Ladbrokes King George at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Before that he faces a quiet week as he recovers from a small injury he picked up at Haydock.

Nicholls said: “It was an awesome run, I thought all the way up the straight he was going to go and win, but you knew Bristol De Mai was going to be hard to go by. I think the rain they had before racing made the ground very heavy, which counted against us. I think we ran out of stamina from the back of the last.

“It was great preparation for the King George. Admittedly he probably had a harder race than I would have liked, but he was fit and well for that day and he will get over it quickly. I think it was one of his best runs.”

Clan Des Obeaux - runner up on his seasonal reappearance last year, before winning a second King George - has been given an easy week this week, having picked up a minor injury in Saturday’s race.

Nicholls said: "He actually stumbled at the start and did quite a nasty overreach on the bulb of his heel – Sam [Twiston-Davies] could easily have got unseated.

"For a couple of strides Sam was looking down and wondering what had happened. He had a little cut, so it means he is going to have an easy week this week, canter him on Saturday and then quietly build up his fitness again over the next month."

Last year the Paul Nicholls-trained Cyrname finished second to Clan Des Obeaux in the King George, after beating Altior at Ascot. Sponsors Ladbrokes make the stablemates 5/2 joint-favourites for this year’s contest.

Nicholls said: "This year Cyrname had a run at Wetherby and I wanted to give him an extra month. He has come out of that really well, as opposed to having a mega hard race against Altior, which was too close to Kempton and I never really had him right afterwards. I am very happy with his progress.

“They are going into it a little bit in reverse to last year. Last year Clan had the run in October and had a long period to build up to Kempton, now he has had a very hard race only a month before. I think it won’t be a problem for Clan, he will get over it quicker than Cyrname would have done.

“They have both had a great preparation and I think it will bring them a lot closer. I know that Cyrname wasn’t right last year. Clan will be very hard to beat at Kempton, he loves it round there, but I think it will be very interesting. It is a job to split them."

Nicholls could have as many as four runners in Kempton’s Boxing Day feature with Frodon and Real Steel also possible contenders. Cheltenham Gold Cup third, Lostintranslation, looks set to be the biggest danger from outside the Nicholls yard.

He said: "Lostintranslation ran very disappointingly on Saturday, but if he ran on his Gold Cup form that would give him a chance alone. He didn’t perform at Kempton last year and I suppose two out of three runs he has been a bit disappointing. Who know what will turn up, but it will probably cut up.

"I think Real Steel will improve enormously for his run on Saturday and he is a lively outsider. Frodon is going to run in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree on the 5th December and then that gives him three weeks. He thrives on his racing, so he could easily go as well."