Kempton and Leopardstown have Festival racing all wrapped up
Author:
Roy Brindley
A deep freeze across the UK and Ireland has led to a raft of abandoned meetings during December. But the outlook for the festive period suggests bets on a white Christmas will be lost, and the scheduled major meetings will proceed as planned.
Galopin Des Champs is one of several emerging stars that may be in action over the Christmas period. The youngster is amongst the entries in Leopardstown’s Savills Chase. @GettyImages
In horse racing, the Christmas showcase contest is the King George VI Chase staged at Kempton Park. The Surrey venue normally avoids the worst of the weather, but the hugely popular Boxing Day meeting was abandoned, due to snow and frost, in 1981, 1995 and 2010.
Paul Nicholls has won the King George twelve times in the past. He appears to have an outstanding chance of taking his record to 13. The Somerset-based trainer is set to saddle Bravemansgame and Hitman in the three-mile contest. This duo are currently priced at 6/4 and 4/1.
A Knockout Boxing Day of Action
The King George VI meeting features three Grade-1 contests. The others are the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase – won last year by Bravemansgame and, in 2014, by Gold Cup winner Coneygree – and the Ladbrokes sportsbook Christmas Hurdle. This two-mile contest has been an excellent form pointer to the Champion Hurdle in recent seasons. Previous winners include Epatante, Buveur d’Air, Faugheen and Binocular.
Also on December 26th – or St Stephen’s Day as it is known in Ireland – the Racing Post sponsors a Grade-1 novice chase at Leopardstown. Over 20 horses are among its early entry. Nevertheless, the best horse racing betting sites believe Gordon Elliott’s Fil Dor is a star of the future. The bookmaking firms have last season’s Triumph Hurdle runner-up priced at 11/10.
Elliott has a second potential champion chaser entered at Limerick during the same afternoon. The French-bred Gerri Colombe is unbeaten in five career starts and, such was the impressive nature of his victories, the six-year-old is 5/4 in the early betting for the Grade-1 Faugheen Novice Chase.
Time to Unwrap Some Star Talent
High-class jumps racing continues in Ireland until December 29. Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival is a gift that keeps on giving. The next present is the Paddy Power Future Champions Novice Hurdle scheduled for Tuesday 27th.
The 1-2 in last season’s Cheltenham Champion Bumper – Facile Vega and American Mike – are both entered in this contest. But most top Irish stables have a representative amongst the entries, and many are unbeaten.
There are four more Grade-1 contests at Leopardstown in the proceeding days: The Jack de Bromhead Christmas Hurdle, the Savills Chase, the Neville Hotels Novice Chase, and the Matheson Hurdle.
The latter event has seen Nicky Henderson make a rare Irish race entry outside of the Punchestown Festival. Constitution Hill had superlatives heaped on him following his 22-length victory in Cheltenham’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. He proved that performance was no fluke when beating 2020 Champion Hurdle winner Epatante by 12 lengths on his seasonal reappearance.
Galopin Can Run Rivals Ragged
Amongst the entries for the Savills Chase are three previous winners. That number includes 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard and 2021 Gold Cup winner Minella Indo. Suffice it to say, whoever wins this contest, will shorten markedly in the 2023 Gold Cup betting.
Only a six-year-old, Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs has the potential to tame his older rivals and emerge as a Gold Cup contender by landing this event. A Cheltenham Festival winner over hurdles in 2021, in March he had the Festival’s Turner Novice Chase at his mercy but capitulated at the final fence.
Compensation was gained in April’s BoyleSports Gold Cup Novice Chase. He landed this contest in a romp by 18 lengths. Unraced since, the 172-rated chaser could have progressed further over the summer months, and he is sure to have been given further schooling over fences.
