Yes, King George Day is upon us. Boxing Day is a special 24 hours for horse racing fans with more action on our TVs than empty chocolate wrappers.
It’s a big day, and like most horse racing fans, I’m hoping to not give any away to the bookies. There are lots of races to digest, and that could cause danger.
Anyway, best of luck, and let’s begin.
11:55 Aintree – Lavida Adiva @ 9/2 with William Hill – 2pt Win
Starting with the very first race at Aintree and just the fourth contest of the whole day, I’m sweet on the chances of Lavida Adiva.
The ground at Aintree is interesting as it’s good to soft currently but the surface should dry a little bit ahead of flag fall.
Either way, this five-year-old by Champs Elysees is ground versatile and she has some nice form in the book.
On her final start of last season, she chased home Pretending in a mares’ handicap hurdle at Cheltenham, form that looks solid as the winner won at Uttoxeter subsequently.
She qualified for that series final by finishing third at Market Rasen in the qualifier, and this race at Aintree is another qualifier, so if connections want to head back to the final in April, a good run here will secure that.
As for her novice form, she finished third to One More Strike and Yes Day at Catterick in January, the latter of which finished third in a Pertemps Qualifier to Cuthbert Dibble and Lord Snootie.
On her second hurdles start, she chased home The Kalooki Kid (rated 131 over fences) at Musselburgh and also finished ahead of the subsequent Listed hurdle runner-up Ottizzini.
With a generous rating of 113, I think Lavida Adiva can run a big race back against her own gender after two runs in hot handicaps against the boys.
12:45 Kempton – Leader In The Park @ 7/1 with William Hill – 1pt EW
With a race under his belt, Leader In The Park can get back in the winners’ enclosure in Kempton’s opener.
I backed him at the Cheltenham in November on his seasonal reappearance and it looked pretty clear-cut to me – he needed the run.
He travelled nicely for 80% of the race, but in a race on good ground, he was just caught for speed around the home bend.
Still, the case for him remains. We had Ben Pauling on the Only Fools Love Horses Podcast a few months ago, and he said that this six-year-old point-to-point winner was his best novice hurdler last year without showing his true potential.
That’s a bold statement considering they had Tellherthename, a Supreme runner, Personal Ambition, and Handstands in their novice hurdle squad last season, but it’s one worth noting down.
On hurdles debut, he finished second to Paul Nicholls’ Farnoge and ahead of Excello who beat Solo over fences on his next start to frank the form.
Off 120 today, I think he’s fairly unexposed and he can run a big race.
1:05 Aintree – Potters Charm @ 13/8 with Coral – 2pt Win
Followers of the column, Twitter, or TikTok will know my love for Potters Charm, and Boxing Day is his chance to claim his first Grade 1.
I have questions about the form of Country Mile’s win at Cheltenham earlier this month as the race rather fell into his grasp and similar doubts are placed on the heads of the bigger-priced runners.
Therefore, Potters Charm looks like the most solid option in the Formby.
Despite Valgrand’s slick jumping at Cheltenham last month, the five-year-old by Valirann kept on his hindquarters and picked him off around the bend with relative ease.
As for Potters Charm’s win in October, the second, Minella Sixo, won a novice hurdle at Thurles before finishing second in a Grade 3 Cork novice hurdle earlier this month.
He’s classy and I really think his opponents must improve to beat him, so I’m keeping him on side.
1:40 Aintree – Florida Dreams @ 5/2 with Coral – 1pt Win
I backed Florida Dreams in the Greatwood Hurdle and he returned EW profit with some firms at 20/1, and the handicapper has nicely dropped him 1lb for the effort as well.
He travelled notably well down the hill before staying on well up the hill to edge out Fiercely Proud for fifth.
Speaking of Fiercely Proud, he boosted the Greatwood form by winning the Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle last weekend.
The way he raced at Cheltenham last time out suggests this step up in trip could work nicely, and I’m fairly sure he’s a better horse than his rating of 126 suggests.
Yes, he’s slightly disappointed connections since his Grade 2 bumper win at Aintree in 2023, but the Blizzard Of Oz and Masaccio form is looking nice and finishing eighth in a hot renewal of the Scottish Champion Hurdle in April is also good form.
I’ll chance him here.
2:30 Kempton – Spillane’s Tower @ 10/3 with William Hill (1pt Win) & L’Homme Presse @ 11/1 with William Hill (0/5pt EW, 3 places)
The King George is a competitive race this year which is great as, at one stage, it wasn’t looking too promising.
There are stronger bets across Boxing Day, though I’m still keeping Spillane’s Tower and L’Homme Presse on the team.
The former is a rightful favourite based on most of his form, and beating Monty’s Star on yielding ground at Punchestown is very relevant in the context of a good ground King George.
His runners-up effort in the John Durkan is also very good as finishing around the likes of Fact To File, Galopin Des Champs, and Fastorslow is some of the best form in the race.
He should go very close.
As for L’Homme Presse, I’m not sure how effective he is on a decent surface, but it’s hard to knock his attitude.
He’s a very honest horse and Venetia Williams’ horses have run well all season on their first starts of the campaign.
He has four good to soft victories to his name, so hopefully conditions will suit and I think he has a big run in him.
2:55 Leopardstown – San Salvador @ 8/1 with William Hill (4 places) – 1pt EW
Connections had a big chance to send San Salvador into a handicap chase at Cheltenham’s November Meeting, but they decided to send him into the Grade 2 Arkle Trial instead.
It was an interesting decision, but he still ran a good race when fourth behind the subsequent Grade 1 winner L’Eau Du Sud, so the performance is upgradeable.
He’s not tried any handicaps over fences yet, but as a hurdler, he put in a decent effort when winning a Punchestown handicap hurdle off 124 in December 2022.
He’s proven to be a much better chaser than hurdler as he has a Roscommon Grade 3 novice chase to his name.
The form of that race isn’t the strongest, but he beat Jordans in a Listowel novice chase in September who went on to beat Monbeg Park in a Punchestown Grade 3 novice chase.
Although this 2m1f handicap chase is a fairly wide-open contest, the favourite – One Last Tango – has losing distances of 23, 28, 22, 14.5, 19.5, 21, 21, 21, and 21 lengths to his name since his last success.
Furthermore, The Folkes Tiara and The King Of Prs are maybe not the best-handicapped horses in the world.
So, I think San Salvador can show his class in this field.
3:40 Kempton – Mahons Glory @ 9/1 with Bet365 (3 places) – 1pt EW
Yes, I’m back on the Mahons Glory train after last year’s exploits in the 2023 renewal of this contest.
He won off 126 last year when bucking out from the front under Sam Twiston-Davies, and although his rating of 132 is 6lbs higher, Dylan Johnston claims a valuable 3lbs off his back to give him a competitive mark.
The form is working out nicely as well. Emailandy, the second, finished third in a valuable Sandown handicap and then won a Plumpton handicap off 129. Even the fourth, Mark Of Gold, won a Grade 2 novice chase last week.
Patrick Neville sent him over fences at the start of this season, and while his first effort behind Hyland was solid, the final two left a bit to be desired.
That Hyland form looks nice now as he went on to win twice at Cheltenham subsequently, the latter of which in a Listed race.
I must admit, this year’s renewal is hotter than 12 months ago, but he is nicely handicapped and will like the good ground.
