The festive horse racing meetings are some of sport’s biggest winter betting highlights. On Boxing Day, no fewer than 11 meetings take place across Britain and Ireland, the main focus being on Leopardstown, Aintree and Kempton which hosts the showstopping King George VI Chase.
We’re still betting ante-post as of Monday, looking to claw in the best value possible for the Boxing Day action. Our concentration is on major televised events at Kempton and Wetherby, with three horses offering us good value.
Three different bookies showed up well for us at this early betting stage, especially William Hill with their 6/1 about Knappers Hill (as short as 9/2 in places). Odds listed below are the biggest available from some of the best betting sites in the country.
| Race | Horse | Odds | Bookmaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kauto Star Novices' Chase | Jimmy Du Seuil | 2/1 | BetMGM |
| Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase | Knappers Hill | 6/1 | William Hill |
| King George VI Chase | Jango Baie | 3/1 | Betway |
*Odds correct at 14:00 GMT on 22/12/2025. Odds subject to change.
Bet 1 – Jimmy Du Seuil in the 1:20 at Kempton
The Kauto Star Novices’ Chase is a Grade One event over three miles, and it’s of great significance in terms of the upcoming Cheltenham Festival and next year's King George Chase on the same card.
Wendigo, trained by Jamie Snowden, is interesting following his Grade 2 success at Newbury at the end of November, while Salver (Gary & Josh Moore) commands plenty of respect after his Sandown demolition in the Esher Novices’ Chase.
The verdict on this occasion however goes to Jimmy Du Seuil, representing the all-powerful Willie Mullins yard. A fine hurdler, the six-year-old managed to give 5lbs and a beating to Impose Toi at the Cheltenham Festival in March. That horse of course came out and won the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle last weekend.
Since then, Jimmy Du Seuil has made his chase debut and in truth it was easy work for him. He pulled four lengths clear of his Fairyhouse rivals, and there is a lot more to come. Big improvement is expected on his second start over the larger obstacles.
Also significant here is that the current second favourite, Kitzbuhel, is also trained by Willie Mullins. It’s unclear whether he will accompany his stablemate or be pulled out later in the week. Defection would change the odds significantly and due to that fact, it’s best to get on now.
Bet 2 – Knappers Hill in the 1:35 at Wetherby
This is the potentially gruelling three-mile Rowland Meyrick Handicap. In it, we find it hard to split two potentially well-handicapped types in Konfusion, trained by Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith, and Knappers Hill of the Paul Nicholls yard.
Konfusion took a very competitive chase at Newcastle four weeks ago in striking style. It can be pointed out however that the runner-up of Dan Skelton’s yard was a big drifter in the market that day and was likely some way below his best. That knocks a bit of a hole in the form, though he did win nicely. He’s gone up 10lbs in the handicap for that win too, but he is going the right way.
A better alternative at the odds (6/1 vs 2/1) is Knappers Hill. This will be just the eight-year-old’s second run since November 2023, but there was a lot to like about his comeback behind The Jukebox Man (see below).
Returning from injury, he ran a sensible race in fourth and will have been put spot-on for this assignment. Paul Nicholls has sensibly given the gelding, a multiple Grade 2 winner over hurdles, 34 days to recover and improve, and we should see him perform much better now.
Knappers Hill reached a handicap mark of 153 over hurdles. He promises to reach at least that level over fences sooner rather than later, making his current mark of just 145 look lenient.
Bet 3 – Jango Baie in the 2:30 at Kempton
This is the big one, the King George VI Chase. As well as being the highlight of this meeting, the King George is second in importance only to the Cheltenham Gold Cup in terms of prestige jumps races. It takes a special horse to win it.
Gaelic Warrior (first) and Fact To File (second) fought out a brilliant private battle for Willie Mullins recently in the John Durkan Memorial. Fact To File is closer to his peak at eight years old and can hit a high level, but he may ultimately be a two-and-a-half-mile horse.
Gaelic Warrior is solid and should relish this return to three miles. He’s done little wrong, and he heads the betting, but he’s vulnerable to a young improver and we have one here in the shape of Nicky Henderson’s Jango Baie.
A quite brilliant winner of an Ascot Grade 2 last time, Jango Baie only turns seven in the new year and is really going places. At this stage of his career, he has shown a higher level of ability than the others and is likely to take a massive step forward.
Harry Redknapp will be in attendance to see his runner The Jukebox Man. He’s good, but his likely role will be to lead the way, perhaps offering Jango Baie the perfect slingshot into contention late on. It’ll be interesting to see how Nico de Boinville plays this one from the saddle.
