NAUNTON-based trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies has been forced to pull out Imperial Commander from the King George VI Chase at Kempton due to an infected leg.

The nine-year-old sustained a cut to his leg during last month’s Betfair Chase at Haydock.

The withdrawal means Imperial Commander will be unable to compete against rival Kauto Star at the Boxing Day showpiece.

Now, Kauto Star has an even better chance of recording an historic fifth victory at the King George VI Chase.

After missing out on the prestigious event, Twiston-Davies is set to save Imperial Commander for a return at next year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup in March in a bid for a second successive win.

He has given him a week of box rest after the Betfair Chase and was confident he would compete up to a week ago, but his efforts were all in vain.

Twiston-Davies said: “It means we will not be able to get him cherry-ripe for Kempton.

“It’s not serious. He will probably go straight to the Gold Cup in March but that’s not written in stone.”

This is a blow to the trainer who has had a successful year, which included seeing Paddy Brennan ride Imperial Commander to victory at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Elsewhere, his son Sam rode home the winner in the Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase.

Sam, riding Little Josh, led from start to finish in the prestigious National Hunt race at Cheltenham, winning by two-and-three-quarter lengths.

This victory adds to a breakthrough year for Sam, who has nearly 40 winners in his first year as a conditional professional jockey and also saw him finish fifth in this year’s Grand National on Hello Bud.

The 53-year-old, who runs Grange Hill Farm and began training in 1981, watched 18-year-old Sam, a student at The Cotswold School, beat odds-on favourite Long Run, on his 20-1 shot.