No choice to make for the man who rides both Clan and Cyrname on the gallops

A former jockey, over jumps and on the Flat, Scott Marshall is the man lucky enough to be the gallops partner of the Paul Nicholls-trained pair, Clan Des Obeaux and Cyrname, who are almost inseparable at the head of the betting for the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase on Boxing Day.

Classy Cyrname, the highest-rated British jumper in training, is gunning for revenge after suffering a 21-length drubbing from his stablemate in the £200,000 Grade One festive cracker 12 months ago.

Marshall, 34, who is originally from Hawick, said: “Clan Des Obeaux is actually trying for his third King George as he beat Thistlecrack in 2018 and Cyrname has plenty of ground to make up from their meeting last year.

“I go wherever Clan runs and I’ve had some special days with him. I was fortunate to lead him up when he won both King Georges and ran in two Gold Cups, and I’ve led up Cyrname a few times when he has won as well.

“The style of the way the King George is run - a good fast pace for the whole three miles - seems to set it up perfectly for Clan. Certainly, at this time of year and round that track, he seems to be better than anywhere else he runs.

“There isn’t much between them, in the betting or on official ratings, but I still think he is the one to beat and there will be no hiding place on Boxing Day.

“We also run Frodon and Real Steel and there doesn’t seem to be a huge amount of strength in depth from the other yards.”

Marshall, who spent time with Mark Johnston, Nicky Richards and Willie Amos, also had a one-year stint away from racing when working in a factory before he teamed up with eleven-time champion trainer Nicholls six years ago.

A “mad-keen” Rangers supporter, he will also be keeping a close eye on his Ibrox idols in their lunchtime Boxing Day Scottish Premier kick-off against Hibernian.

He said: “My only winner on the Flat came at Doncaster on November Handicap day in 2002 on Lots Of Love, who was also my very first ride. It was in the opening race for apprentices and it turned out to be a good day for Mark Johnston as the yard, where I started as a 16-year-old, had a treble.

“I was with Mark two years and then moved to Nicky Richards and I ended up with five winners over jumps, including two winners from two rides at Wetherby. It was a good time to be at Greystoke as there were some decent horses including Monet’s Garden, The French Furze, Turpin Green and Faasel.

“After a season with Willie Amos I came out of racing for a year and worked in a factory building prefabricated houses but I always had the bug and one day I decided to ring up Paul and ask for a job.

“He is throughly professional in every thing he does and he just loves training winners. It’s a fantastic place to work as 75 per cent of the yard can be classed as very good horses.”

Marshall now rides out Cyrname and Clan Des Obeaux every day and added: “They are completely different types of horses, at home and on the racecourse. And they may have two styles of running but their training regimes are exactly the same.

"Cyrname came from France and took a while to adapt and come to terms to the British way of training, like up a hill which was different to what he was used to. Mind you, from the stories we’ve heard, he was quite a handful in France as well so he just took a bit of settling into our routine.

“Visually he was very impressive in the Charlie Hall Chase and you couldn’t fault him. He certainly silenced a few of his critics and keyboards warriors on social media that day!

“He was a bit more of an unknown quantity as he was too free at home but he has now settled better, enabling him to fulfil his potential. It’s quite surreal and I never thought I would be riding the highest-rated horse in the UK.

“Clan was altogether different and he was like an old handicapper when he was a young horse. You wouldn’t have known he was a three-year-old as he was a proper old-fashioned type of a grandad ride!

“He was a big three-year-old and has just slowly matured. For me he has always been a bit special from a very young age with the feel he gives you on the gallops.”