Kempton Christmas Festival 2026

The Kempton Christmas Festival is the spiritual home of British Christmas racing — two days of elite National Hunt action centred on the King George VI Chase, the mid-season championship test for top chasers. The 2026 renewal runs Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 December at Kempton Park in Surrey.

The meeting at a glance

Boxing Day Kempton is the second-biggest day of jumps racing in Britain after the Grand National, and the King George VI Chase is the standalone championship test for 3-mile chasers halfway through the National Hunt season. Sunday supports the flagship with a second strong card including the Christmas Hurdle Grade 1 and the Desert Orchid Chase.

Prize money across the two days exceeds £1.5 million, and the meeting is traditionally where the first real Gold Cup form lines emerge — many Cheltenham Gold Cup winners have also won the King George, and the form carries real weight heading into March.

Feature races

Grade 1 Championship Races
  • King George VI Chase (Saturday) — 3m chase for the best staying chasers. The mid-season championship, first run in 1937. Past winners include Kauto Star (five-time winner), Silviniaco Conti, Thistlecrack, Bravemansgame and Hewick.
  • Christmas Hurdle (Sunday) — 2m Grade 1 hurdle. The mid-season championship for 2-mile hurdlers — a key step between the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle and the Champion Hurdle.
  • Kauto Star Novices' Chase (Sunday) — 3m Grade 1 novice chase. The definitive RSA Chase trial.
    • Other Major Graded Races
  • Desert Orchid Chase (Sunday) — 2m Grade 2 chase. A specialist's race for top 2-mile chasers.
  • Wayward Lad Novices' Chase (Saturday) — 2m Grade 2 novice chase.
  • Christmas Handicap Chase (Saturday) — 3m handicap chase; a key Grand National trial.
  • Feltham Novices' Chase (Saturday) — supporting novice chase often produces Cheltenham Festival winners.

    • Understanding the course

    Kempton is a right-handed flat chase track of 1m 5f round with long straights and relatively easy fences. It's a flat, fair, galloping track that rewards bold jumpers who can travel — the opposite profile to Cheltenham, which is why some Kempton King George winners don't bounce back at the Cheltenham Gold Cup (and vice versa).

    The track suits horses who like to bowl along in front and jump fluently. Plodders can struggle; the lack of undulations means stamina matters less than at Cheltenham, and speed matters more.

    Betting angles

  • King George winners don't always win the Gold Cup. The flat, speed-test nature of Kempton favours different horses from the uphill stamina test at Cheltenham. Read the King George form carefully before assuming it translates straight to March.
  • Pre-Festival trials. The Kauto Star Novices' Chase, Wayward Lad, Feltham and Christmas Hurdle all produce likely Cheltenham runners. Horses who win or run placed here usually carry the form to the Festival — it's a valuable pointer.
  • Ground matters less than at most NH tracks. Kempton drains very well and usually rides good-to-soft through December, so horses who need testing ground often underperform here relative to their form elsewhere.
  • Market moves in the week of the King George are loud. The race attracts major ante-post action; compare prices carefully in the final 48 hours when weights and declarations firm up.
  • Extra places on the handicaps. The Christmas Handicap Chase and handicap hurdles typically attract 5 or 6 places. Our each-way betting guide explains when the extra place swings the value calculation.

    • How we surface the value

    Our value engine compares every UK bookmaker's Kempton price against the Betfair Exchange benchmark in real time. The King George itself is usually a tight market with six to eight runners, but the supporting handicaps can have 15+ runners and produce real value — especially as the ante-post market shakes out with non-runners on Christmas morning. Our overround guide explains how we identify the mispriced runners.

    Key dates — 2026

    DayDateFeature Race
    Saturday26 DecemberKing George VI Chase
    Sunday27 DecemberChristmas Hurdle / Kauto Star Novices' Chase
    Declarations are published five days before each race. Live odds, market moves, non-runners and each-way terms appear here as soon as fields are confirmed.