Of the top ten steeplechasers in the history of Timeform, how many won the King George VI Chase?

As far as National Hunt ratings are concerned, the Timeform era did not begin until the early sixties. By contrast, the King George VI Chase was inaugurated in 1937, so the earlier winners, notably Cottage Rake (1948), who also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1948, 1949 and 1950, were never awarded a Timeform rating. Also missing from the Timeform top ten is Wayward Lad who, in 1985, created history by becoming the first horse to win the King George Chase three times, but only ever achieved a Timeform Annual Rating of 175; he falls into the ‘top class’ category, according to the respected ratings organisation, but is still 9lb shy of the 184 required to feature in the ‘all-time’ top ten.

Fittingly, for a race that, in terms of prestige, is second only to the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the staying chasing division, five of the top ten steeplechasers in the history of Timeform won the King George VI Chase. It is no coincidence that all five also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup at least once.

In chronlogical order, Mill House (191), trained by Fulke Walwyn, won the King George VI Chase in 1963, but was overshadowed for most of his career by the highest-rated steeplechaser in the history of Timeform, Arkle (212), who won the race in 1965 and may well have done so again in 1966, but for fracturing a pedal bone in-running. Burrough Hill Lad (184) won in 1984, Desert Orchid (187) won four out of five renewals between 1986 and 1990 and Kauto Star (191) won five out of six between 2006 and 2011; Long Run (184) interrupted that winning sequence in 2010 and won again in 2012.