Racing: McCoy in for Best of times in the champions' meeting

The seasonal blockbuster for which the racing world has been waiting – Best Mate v Florida Pearl III in the 52nd King George VI Chase at Kempton – will give one of the leading players the chance of a second take. Twelve months ago the spotlight was on Adrian Maguire and Florida Pearl, with Best Mate three-quarters of a length behind. But Tony McCoy, on the runner-up, said afterwards that with the benefit of a rehearsal he would have won.

McCoy took the Boxing Day ride on the subsequent Gold Cup winner because of injury to his regular jockey Jim Culloty. This time round fate took the form of the Doncaster stewards, who handed the hapless Culloty the ban that again rules him out of the festive showpiece. "I feel for Jim," said McCoy, "but I'm looking forward to riding the horse again. Who wouldn't, a horse like that." McCoy has been released from riding either of the two longshot Martin Pipe contenders, Shooting Light and Wahiba Sands, to renew acquaintance with the champion-elect. Surely even McCoy's propensity for picking the wrong one will not be tested.

The sticking point last year was Best Mate's stamina, unproven over as far as Thursday's three miles at the time. McCoy rode the gelding conservatively but, with the Cheltenham crown secured, staying power is no longer an issue.

The second time Best Mate met Florida Pearl was in the Gold Cup, when the Irish champion trailed in a well-beaten 11th, only the second time in his career he has finished outside the first four. He was later found to have been suffering from a lung infection and bounced back to show his true worth by thrashing high-class fields at Aintree and Punchestown. He was rated 1lb ahead of Best Mate in the end-of-season classifications and his is the title that must be taken.

Dual or multiple winners of the mid-season championship, first run in 1937 to honour the unexpected new monarch after the abdication of Edward VIII, are not uncommon; Florida Pearl, with the able assistance of young Ruby Walsh, will be bidding to become the 11th, after Halloween, Mandarin, Pendil, Captain Christy, Silver Buck, Wayward Lad, Desert Orchid, The Fellow, One Man and See More Business. But the 10-year-old's preparation has not been smooth and, after his brief reign, the time may have come to hand over the purple mantle.

The beau ideal of the game is the stayer who quickens, and on his seasonal debut in the Peterborough Chase a month ago Best Mate oozed class as he defeated some smart rivals with the minimum of fuss and a round of silky-smooth, accurate jumping that was a pleasure to behold. The key will be to rely on youth over experience under the saddle and vice versa on top.

The King George is generally regarded as the calendar's second most important test for staying chasers. But the three-mile contest identifies the best performer of the season more often than the race perceived as the championship, the Gold Cup, which is run over an idiosyncratic course and demands stamina far in excess of speed. It is possible for a high-class plodder to win at Cheltenham, but not at Kempton, and fields there generally favour quality over quantity. The character of the race would be a grave loss should the Thames-side track proceed with its plans to lose jump racing in favour of the development of all-weather Flat.

Unless the ground deteriorates markedly Bacchanal will do well to improve on last year's third. This dour stayer sometimes jumps a fence awkwardly and will revert to the smaller obstacles after this week, with the Stayers' Hurdle as his Festival target.

Native Upmanship is the best specialist two-and-a-half mile operator in these islands but may be stretched by a true gallop over three. The distance will suit French raider Douze Douze but he will have to jump better than he did when second to Best Mate at Huntingdon, and Bacchanal's stablemate, Marlborough, is not good enough at this level.

The fly in the ointment as far as the big two are concerned may prove to be the two-mile champion Flagship Uberalles, who has had the highest rating in the field at his best. His stamina is unknown but his class will take him into the equation if he gets the trip.