King George Chase

Deep Purple's odds slashed for the King George Chase after winning the Peterborough Chase

Deep Purple’s odds for the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park have been slashed from 25/1 to 14/1 with event sponsors William Hill after winning the Totesport.com Peterborough Chase on Thursday.

The eight year old, trained by Evan Williams, could now head to the King George Chase on December 26 after his emphatic win over a strong field, under a 10lb penalty and after starting as a 12-1 outsider.

Deep Purple finished well clear of other King George Chase prospects, six lengths ahead of Tartak and a further five lengths back to last year’s King George Chase runner-up Albertas Run.

“I had been hoping he’d run well,” Williams said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere with him over Christmas but, though I was hoping to avoid Kauto Star this year, it would be silly not to have a go at the King George now.”

“He’s been a bit underrated because, though he’s won a lot, we’ve always kept him low key. I didn’t think he had a performance like that in him. He did work better than any horse we’ve ever had on a bit of fresh grass recently. The others were making mistakes because the pace was ferocious, but he’s very progressive. I’ll get pushed into entering him in the Ryanair and Gold Cup, but it’s my opinion that flat tracks play to his strengths” Williams added.

The Kempton Park Winter Festival sponsors, William Hill, have cut Deep Purple’s odds from 25/1 to 14/1. In the race for second, Deep Purple is at 8-1 in betting without the favourite, Kauto Star.