The Christmas Hurdle is a Grade 1

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is the second leg of the

Triple Crown of Hurdling Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

and is scheduled to take place each year during the

King George VI Chase The King George VI Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of ...

meeting on

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

History

During the 1960s Kempton staged a 2-mile handicap race on Boxing Day called the Kempton Park Handicap Hurdle. Its winners included Salmon Spray and Saucy Kit – both subsequent winners of the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

. The race was abandoned in 1967 and 1968, and it returned in the guise of the Christmas Hurdle in 1969. Five winners of the race in its present format have gone on to victory in the Champion Hurdle. The first was Lanzarote, the winner of the latter event in 1974, and the others are

Dawn Run Dawn Run (1978–1986) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse (Deep Run - Twilight Slave) who was the most successful racemare in the history of National Hunt racing. She won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1984 and the Chelten ...

(1983–84), Kribensis (1989–90),

Faugheen Faugheen ( foaled 2 May 2008) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2015 Champion Hurdle and back-to-back Christmas Hurdles in 2014 and 2015. His best performance on a racecourse came in the 2016 Irish Champion Hurdle f ...

(2014–15) and

Epatante Epatante (foaled 27 February 2014) is a French-bred AQPS racehorse best known for her performances in Hurdle races. After winning two of her three races in her native country, she was transferred to race in England and showed further promise b ...

(2019–20)

Records

Most successful horse since 1969 (2 wins): * Coral Diver – ''1969, 1971'' * Lanzarote – ''1973, 1975'' * Kribensis – ''1988, 1989'' * Intersky Falcon – ''2002, 2003'' *

Harchibald Harchibald (foaled in 1999 in France) is a retired French-bred, Irish-trained thoroughbred racehorse. Background Harchibald was sired by the stallion Perugino out of the mare Dame D’Harvard. He was owned by DP Sharkey, trained by Noel Meade ...

– ''2004, 2008'' *

Binocular Binocular may refer to: Science and technology * Binocular vision, seeing with two eyes * Binoculars, a telescopic tool * Binocular microscope, binocular viewing of objects through a single objective lens Other uses * Binocular (horse), a thoroug ...

– ''2010, 2011'' *

– ''2014, 2015'' *

- '' 2019, 2021 '' Leading jockey since 1969 (5 wins): *

Tony McCoy Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and the UK, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a reco ...

– ''Straw Bear (2007), Binocular (2010, 2011), Darlan (2012), My Tent Or Yours (2013)'' Leading trainer since 1969 (11 wins): *

Nicky Henderson Nicholas John Henderson (born 10 December 1950) is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times. Background His father was Johnny Henderson who was one of the founders of the Racecourse Holdings Tru ...

– ''Geos (2000), Landing Light (2001), Binocular (2010, 2011), Darlan (2012), My Tent Or Yours (2013), Buveur d'Air (2017), Verdana Blue (2018), Epatante (2019,2021), Constitution Hill (2022)''

Winners since 1969

References

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Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

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pedigreequery.com
– ''Christmas Hurdle – Kempton.'' *

External links

* Race Recordings 1983–200

{{Race Meeting, Christmas Festival (Kempton Park), Turf National Hunt races in Great Britain Kempton Park Racecourse National Hunt hurdle races

History

Records

Winners since 1969

See also

References

External links