KemptonChristmas2026
Two days, 12 races and the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day. Here’s every race on the card, what Kempton asks of a horse, and how to bet the King George without it spoiling your Christmas.
The King George is off in
Saturday 26 December 2026
The King George went off at 2:30pm in 2025. The 2026 time comes out nearer the day.
The road to Kempton
The staying chasers have a few big dates before Boxing Day, and the King George sends them on towards Cheltenham. Here’s the winter laid out like a racecourse: each meeting is a pole, and Kempton is the winning post.
- 31Oct
Charlie Hall Chase
- 21Nov
Betfair Chase
- 5Dec
Tingle Creek
- 11Dec to 12 Dec
Christmas Meeting
- 26Dec to 27 Dec
Christmas Festival
- 16Mar to 19 Mar
- 8Apr to 10 Apr
Christmas offers
Five racing bookmakers we work with, each with a welcome offer if you’re new. QuinnBet, BetGoodwin and betTOM also pay Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish racing, which is handy in a race where favourites have such a poor record.
Christmas pickBest Odds Guaranteed on every UK and Irish race, Boxing Day included, with nothing to opt in to.
1
Free bet up to £25Min £10 · Evens (2.0) · 7-day expiryClaim offer18+ · T&Cs applyKey terms18+ New UK customers only. Bet £10+ at Evens (2.00)+. Get 50% back of first day losses as a free bet up to £25. Valid 7 days. Min. 3 bets required. T&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org
Racecourse pickBet £40 and get £20 in free bets with code BET40GET20, from a firm that grew up in the betting ring.
2
Star Sports
Racecourse bookies at heart. Star Sports grew up in the betting ring and knows its racing.
Read our reviewBet £40, get £20Code BET40GET20 · Evens (2.0) · 2 × £10 free betsClaim offer18+ · T&Cs applyKey terms18+ New customers only. Promo code BET40GET20. Place a £40+ real cash first bet at odds of Evens (2.0)+ to get 2 × £10 free bets: the second is paid 24 hours after the first. Free bets must be used at odds of 4/1 (5.0)+, cannot be split and expire after 24 hours. Void and cashed-out bets do not qualify. T&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org
- 3
BetGoodwin
A proper racing firm. Best Odds Guaranteed from 10am on every UK and Irish race, Christmas included.
Read our reviewBet £10, get £15Min deposit £20 · Odds 2.0+ · 3 × £5 free betsClaim offer18+ · T&Cs applyKey terms18+ New customers only. Min deposit £20. Bet £10+ at odds 2.0+ to receive 3×£5 free bets. T&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org
- 4
betTOM
BetGoodwin’s newer sister site, with Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish racing.
Read our reviewFree bet up to £2550% of first-day losses · Evens (2.0) · 3+ betsClaim offer18+ · T&Cs applyKey terms18+ New customers only. 50% of first day losses refunded as a free bet up to £25, credited within 24 hours. Min 3 bets of £/€10+ on separate events at odds of evens (2.0)+ to qualify. Min first-day losses of £10 to qualify. T&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org
- 5
PricedUp
From the team behind Star Sports, and known for pushing prices out on the big races.
Read our reviewBet £40, get £20Code ACCA20 · Evens (2.0) · 4 × £5 acca free betsClaim offer18+ · T&Cs applyKey terms18+ New customers only. Opt in with code ACCA20. Deposit £10+ and place a £40 bet at min odds evens (2.00) within 24hrs of joining. Get 4×£5 acca free bets: the first on qualifying bet settlement, then one per day over the next 3 days. Free bets acca-only, expire 24hrs. Max pay-outs apply. #ad. T&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org
Ad · 18+ · New customers only · T&Cs applyGotTheOdds earns commission if you join through these links.
How Best Odds Guaranteed pays. You put a tenner on a horse at 8/1 on Boxing Day morning. It drifts to 14/1 by the off and wins. With Best Odds Guaranteed you collect £150. Without it you collect £90. See every bookmaker that offers it.
Two days, 12 races
Six races a day, about 35 minutes apart. The order and times below are from the 2025 cards. The 2026 times come out nearer Christmas, so check them on the morning.
King George Day
The turkey’s gone cold and the King George field is circling at Kempton. In 2025 the day had three Grade 1s in 70 minutes: the Kauto Star at 1:20pm, the Christmas Hurdle at 1:55pm and the King George at 2:30pm.
Day one
Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase
2m 4½fA handicap for novice chasers, meaning horses in their first season over fences.
Kauto Star Novices’ Chase
3mThree miles for novice chasers, over the King George trip. Kitzbuhel won it in 2025.
Christmas Hurdle
2mThe big two-mile hurdle of the winter. Sir Gino won it at 4/7 in 2025.
King George VI Chase
3mThree miles and 18 fences. The Jukebox Man won it by a nose in 2025.
Maiden Hurdle
2mFor horses who have yet to win a race over hurdles.
Handicap Hurdle
2m 5fA handicap hurdle to close Boxing Day.
Kauto Star Chase Day
A more relaxed day out, and a good one for families. The Jockey Club has named the 2026 Sunday after the Kauto Star, which suggests that Grade 1 is moving from Boxing Day. The Desert Orchid Chase is confirmed for the Sunday.
Day two
Juvenile Hurdle
2mFor three-year-olds in their first season over hurdles.
Mares’ Handicap Hurdle
3mA staying handicap hurdle for mares.
Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase
2mA Grade 2 for novice chasers, named after a three-time King George winner. Mambonumberfive won it in 2025.
Desert Orchid Chase
2mA Grade 2 handicap chase, named after the grey who won four King Georges. Thistle Ask won it in 2025.
Handicap Chase
3mA three-mile handicap chase.
Handicap Hurdle
2mThe last race of Christmas at Kempton.
G1 = Grade 1. Times are the 2025 off times. Race names drop the sponsor, since sponsors change.
Work it out first
Two sums worth doing before you get a bet on: what Best Odds Guaranteed adds, and what an each-way bet returns in a small King George field.
What Best Odds Guaranteed pays
Pop in your stake, the price you took and the starting price, which is the price when the race goes off.
The horse drifted, so Best Odds Guaranteed pays you at the starting price.
Each way in the King George
An each-way bet is two bets in one: one to win, one to place. So £10 each way costs you £20.
Total stake £20.00. A place in the first 3 returns £24.00. One non-runner can change the terms, so check the field before you bet.
How to bet the King George
Kempton is a different test from Cheltenham, and the prices over the last few years show it. Here’s what to look for, and how to keep Christmas betting in check.
Why Kempton is different
Kempton is flat, sharp and right-handed. The field meets three fences in the home straight at full pace, then has 220 flat yards to the line. That’s a short run-in, so the horse in front at the last fence is hard to catch.
So the King George rewards speed and quick, clean jumping more than stamina. A horse who stays three miles here hasn’t proved it will last up the hill at Cheltenham. Treat the two as different tests. Our Kempton course guide shows the track piece by piece.
Look for Kempton form
Form is a horse’s record of past runs. At Kempton, the best clue is a good run round here before. Kauto Star won five King Georges, Desert Orchid four and Wayward Lad three. Some horses love this track.
The Kauto Star Novices’ Chase is worth watching too. It’s run over the same three miles a year earlier. Bravemansgame won it in 2021 and the King George in 2022. The Jukebox Man did the same double in 2024 and 2025.
Favourites and Best Odds Guaranteed
The last eight King Georges have all gone to a horse who wasn’t favourite. Frodon won at 20/1 in 2020 and Tornado Flyer at 28/1 in 2021. The last two winners both went off at 7/1.
That’s where Best Odds Guaranteed earns its keep. If you take 8/1 in the morning and your horse wins at 14/1, you get paid at 14/1. On a £10 bet that’s £150, not £90. QuinnBet and BetGoodwin keep it running on every UK and Irish race, Christmas included.
Each way in a small field
The King George rarely gets a big field. Eight ran in 2025, five in 2019. The number of runners sets the each-way terms. With eight or more, standard terms pay three places at a fifth of the odds. With five to seven, only two places are paid. Under five, there’s no place part at all.
Here’s £10 each way at 7/1 in an eight-runner field, which costs you £20. If your horse wins, you collect £104. If it finishes second or third, the place half pays at 7/5 and you collect £24. That’s a £4 profit on a horse that didn’t win. Check the runners before you bet, as one non-runner can turn three places into two.
Leopardstown on the same days
Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival in Dublin runs from 26 to 29 December 2026. So the big Irish stables have a choice to make. In 2025 Willie Mullins sent Gaelic Warrior to Kempton. He went off the 9/4 favourite and finished third, beaten two noses.
Check where the Irish horses are heading before you bet ante-post. A horse entered at both meetings might run at either, or neither. Non-runner no bet, or NRNB, gives you your money back if your horse doesn’t run.
A budget for Christmas
Twelve races over two days, on top of everything else Christmas costs. A tenner on every race is £120. Set one budget for both days before the first race, and stop when it’s gone. If betting ever stops being fun, deposit limits and GAMSTOP are there to help.
The King George, counted
Ten years of King George winners and their starting prices, and the numbers behind them.
Ten years of King Georges
Green marks a winning favourite. There have been two in ten years.
- The Jukebox Man7/1
Ben Pauling - Banbridge7/1
Joseph O’Brien - Hewick12/1
John Joseph Hanlon - Bravemansgame11/4
Paul Nicholls - Tornado Flyer28/1
Willie Mullins - Frodon20/1
Paul Nicholls - Clan Des Obeaux11/2
Paul Nicholls - Clan Des Obeaux12/1
Paul Nicholls - Might Bite6/4 fav
Nicky Henderson - Thistlecrack11/10 fav
Colin Tizzard
Most King George wins
Paul Nicholls has trained 13 King George winners, more than anyone. Ruby Walsh rode Kauto Star to all five of his.
Favourites in the last ten
The last favourite to win was Might Bite in 2017.
Age of the last ten winners
Christmas Hurdle favourites
Constitution Hill won it three years running, from 2022 to 2024. The hurdle has been far kinder to favourites than the chase.
Quick answers
The questions people ask most about the King George and Kempton at Christmas, each answered in a line or two.
When is the King George VI Chase 2026?
The King George VI Chase 2026 is on Saturday 26 December, Boxing Day, at Kempton Park. It is the feature of the two-day Christmas Festival.
What time is the King George?
The King George went off at 2:30pm in 2025. The 2026 time is confirmed nearer the day.
How long is the King George VI Chase?
The King George VI Chase is run over about three miles, with 18 fences to jump, on Kempton’s flat, right-handed course.
Who won the King George in 2025?
The Jukebox Man won the 2025 King George at 7/1 for trainer Ben Pauling and jockey Ben Jones. He beat Banbridge by a nose.
Which horse has won the most King Georges?
Kauto Star won the King George five times, between 2006 and 2011. Desert Orchid won it four times.
How many races are there at the Kempton Christmas Festival?
There are 12 races over two days, six on Saturday 26 December and six on Sunday 27 December 2026.
Keep reading
The course itself, where the King George horses head next, and the guides that go with this page.