With people enjoying a little more free time on their hands over the Christmas break, December 26th has long been a day that delivers top horse racing. This year will be no exception as people head off to the races for some extra Christmas cheer.
There are eleven meetings combined across the UK and Ireland for fans to sink their teeth into on Boxing Day 2024, with some heavy hitters like Envoi Allen, Constitution Hill, Impair Et Passe and Corbett’s Cross set to take their places among the action.
Here we preview all the Boxing Day meetings along with some of the star attractions to keep an eye out for. From the King George VI Chase at Kempton, one of the most prestigious races of the jumps season, to the fantastic Leopardstown Christmas Festival, get ready for one of the busiest days of the year.
Where To Watch The Boxing Day Racing
ITV Racing has a lot of coverage on Boxing Day, showing fixtures from Kempton, Aintree and Wetherby. The day’s racing coverage will begin at 12:35 pm. RTE2 is broadcasting from both Leopardstown and Limerick, showing five live races. RTE2 begins its broadcast at 1 pm. Other viewing options are Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing.
ITV Racing schedule
Kempton
- 45: Ladbrokes Best Odds Guaranteed On Racing Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase, 2m4½f
- 20: Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase (Grade 1), 3m
- 55: Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle (Grade 1), 2m
- 30: Ladbrokes King George VI Chase (Grade 1), 3m
Aintree
- 05: William Hill Formby Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1), 2m1f
Wetherby
- 35: William Hill Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap), 3m
RTE2 Boxing Day Schedule
Leopardstown
- 10: O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 2), 2m
- 45: Dornan Careers Novice Handicap Hurdle, 2m
- 20: Racing Post Long Distance Novice Chase (Grade 1), 3m½f
- 55: Racing Post Handicap Chase, 2m1f
Limerick
- 33: Lyons of Limerick Jaguar Land Rover Novice Hurdle (Grade 2), 2m7f
Leopardstown Christmas Festival
The Leopardstown Christmas Festival starts on December 26th and runs through to the 29th, with seven Grade 1 races to come. It’s a huge festival, a highlight of the calendar as revellers get together for a post-Christmas racing treat. December 26th racing at Leopardstown starts at 12:00 with a Maiden Hurdle, one of seven cards on the day.
Long Distance Novice Chase
The highlight of Leopardstown Boxing Day action is the Racing Post Long Distance Novice Chase (Grade 1). The Willie Mullins-trained Impaire Et Passe is the strong ante-post favourite at around a quote of 5/4 to take the win and extend his current winning streak to four. Impaire Et Passe was part of last year’s Leopardstown Christmas Festival, where he shone in scoring the Grade 1 Matheson Hurdle.
The main challenges are expected to come in from Gordon Elliott duo Croke Park and Better Days Ahead. Elliott scored last year’s Long Distance Novice Chase winner with the second-favourite Found A Fifty, but in the last twelve editions, Willie Mullins has swept to seven victories.
Five of the last dozen winners of the race were a favourite or joint-favourite, and all but three of the last twelve winners were aged either 5 or 6.
Irish Whiskey Juvenile Hurdle
In the Irish Whiskey Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 2) on Boxing Day, Willie Mullins has the ante-post favourite in the form of Willy De Houelle, backed up well by stable mate Murcia. The 2m contest for 3-year-olds also sees JP O’Brien’s Naturally Nimble in contention, along with Gavin Cromwell’s Hello Neighbour.
That opening day of the festival is just the tip of the iceberg in what is a spectacular four days of racing from the premier venue. So even if you can’t catch the Boxing Day racing, there are plenty of other chances to do so across the rest of the week.
Among the other top fixtures across the Leopardstown Christmas Festival, there’s more fantastic Grade 1 action including the Savills Chase, December Hurdle and Future Champions Novice Hurdle.
Limerick
Racing fans will also be celebrating the season over at Limerick, a big traditional day of racing. St Stephen’s Day kicks off a four-day Festival, the highlight of which is on Saturday, December 28th, the Grade 1 Faugheen Novice Chase.
The big race to look out for on December 26th however, is the Grade 2 Lyons of Limerick Jaguar Land Rover Novice Hurdle at 1.33 pm. Last year’s renewal was taken by the Willie Mullins-trained Loughglynn and the Irish trainer will be leaning on Mister Pink to follow up for the yard this year.
Among the other main contenders for success in this year’s edition is Gordon Elliott’s Minella Sixo, with the 5-year-old not having been out of the top two in any of his last five runs. But World Of Fortunes, trained by Liam Kenny, completed a hat trick recently and poses a big threat.
Down Royal
There are seven cards to size up for the Boxing Day action at Down Royal in Northern Ireland. The action gets underway at 11.40 with a maiden hurdle. There are no grade races at the venue for the day, but still plenty of exciting chase and hurdles action. Look for the competitive Metcollect Handicap Chase at 1:58 followed by the Metcollect Oil Recycling Hunters Chase. The day closes at Down Royal with a 2m 1f flat race.
Fontwell Park
Fontwell has seven races coming up on Boxing Day, six of them over the jumps. There is an interesting blend of fixtures, which start at 11:57 with a Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle. Included in the action is a Fontwell Chase Series Qualifier Handicap Chase.
Aintree
Aintree, home of the Grand National, has a Premier Raceday lined up for racegoers and bettors on Boxing Day. The famous racecourse only joined in on the Boxing Day action last year amid some changes to the British racing calendar. Now Aintree is set for another cracking day of top racing, with a Mares’ Handicap Hurdle getting the action underway on Merseyside at 11:55.
The top fixture of the Aintree action is the Grade 1 Formby Novices’ Hurdle which was only moved to Aintree in 2023 from Sandown. The current 9/4 ante-post favourite for it is Potters Charm, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, and Sam Twiston-Davies will be in the saddle.
Potters Charm heads to Aintree on a four-race winning streak after completing a hattrick with a victory at Cheltenham in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2) in November. He could be one of the stars of the Boxing Day racing and it raises the question of who could challenge his clear supremacy in the market.
Punters may turn to trainer Gordon Elliott for that, who has entries for Bleu De Vassy and Romeo Coolio. The former completed a hattrick recently with a score at Navan, but there’s not much to choose between the two stablemates who are locked at 4/1 in the ante-post betting.
Trainer Nicky Henderson has won four of the last twelve renewals of the Formby Novices’ Hurdle, with Colin Tizzard chipping in with three successes.
Market Rasen
Market Rasen also has seven races lined up for St Stephen’s Day, with the first race of the day, a Selling Handicap Hurdle, going off at 12:08. The day of racing in Lincolnshire consists of a mix of hurdles and chase action, including the Pallinc Lincolnshire National Handicap Chase over a demanding 3m 31/2f distance.
Sedgefield
Sedgefield joins the action with seven races, starting at 11:45 with a Novices’ Hurdle. The exciting action in Durham is a mix of Class 4 and Class 5 fixtures, with the Fairlight Studios Handicap Chase and the Vickers Handicap Hurdle catching the eye on a busy day.
Wetherby
Wetherby, which is a great venue, hosts seven races as well on December 26th, beginning at 11:52 with a Mares’ Maiden Hurdle. The top race of the day is the Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase, which will be part of ITV racing’s broadcast for the day. The Premier Handicap gets underway at 1:35 with a fascinating line-up.
Tom Lacey’s Cruz Control leads the ante post-racing market at 4/1 as he seeks his first win of the season. The chasing pack is very evenly matched, including the likes of Venetia Williams’ Fontaine Collonges and Paul Nicholls’ Tahmuras, who is one of the highest-rated horses in the line-up.
Kempton Park
Kempton will draw a lot of the Boxing Day attention for bettors because it’s home to some brilliant cards including three Grade 1’s. There are six races in total at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, but there’s nothing bigger, nothing more prestigious happening anywhere in the UK or Ireland than the King George VI Chase, which goes off at 2:30.
King George VI Chase
The highly popular 3m chase was won by Hewick twelve months ago, the 8-year-old outrunning his 8/1 odds for a thrilling score. Ireland is well-represented in the 2024 renewal, with Spillane’s Tower the 4/1 ante post leader in the King George VI Chase betting.
The hot prospect was last seen at Punchestown in late November, where he was narrowly beaten by the brilliant Fact To File in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase. That result saw Spillane’s Tower just miss out on a hattrick, and on Boxing Day he will have his first experience of racing outside of Ireland.
Spillane’s Tower is only a narrow market leader for the King George VI, ahead of Grey Dawning, Il Est Francais and Banbridge. With Envoi Allen and Corbetts Cross making for intriguing dark horses in the field, it should be another electrifying renewal of the Grade 1 race and there’s a big chance of an Irish winner too.
Eight of the last twelve winners of the King George VI Chase have come from the top three of the market, but there hasn’t been a favourite to win the race since Might Bite in 2017.
Christmas Hurdle
The Christmas Hurdle is another highlight of the day at Kempton, and there is a blockbuster of a duel to look forward to as Lossiemouth and Constitution Hill will square off in the 2m contest. Both have won their last four races, and this is going to be a very special head-to-head meeting between the top two-milers around at the moment.
The Willie Mullins-trained Lossiemouth is the current 11/10 ante-post favourite for the Christmas Hurdle, with Constitution Hill, who is a course and distance winner, just back at 5/4. But that’s only two-thirds of the story because there is another big player who could easily break up the duo.
That’s Nicky Henderson’s Sir Gino, another course and distance winner who has been in blistering form and the 4-year-old deserves his chance against the more experienced duo.
Kauto Star Novices’ Chase
The Jukebox Man is the current 11/8 favourite for the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase, the other Grade 1 of the day at Kempton. Hyland and Masaccio are among the key contenders in the 3m race behind him.
Wincanton
Six races are booked for Boxing Day at Wincanton, starting at 12:53 with a Mares’ Novices Hurdle. The Class 2 Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle at 2:38 catches the eye, along with the preceding Run For The Lord Stalbridge Cup, a 3m 1f competitive contest.
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton hosts 8 races on a busy day of action on the all-weather. It’s flat handicap action all the way, apart from a Novices Stakes fixture. Wolverhampton’s Boxing Day action begins at 1:50 with a Nursery Handicap.
Catch All The Boxing Day Racing Odds at TonyBet
Get settled in for another spectacular day of horse racing across the UK and Ireland on December 26th. Eleven venues and a host of Grade 1 fixtures make this one of the greatest highlights of the year. Catch all the significant action at TonyBet, from the latest ante-post odds on the big races to the latest board prices on the big day itself.
Bet on the Boxing Day races with Tonybet!
