Home / Horse Racing / Christmas Hurdle
The Christmas Hurdle is traditionally held on Boxing Day at Kempton Park during the King George VI Chase meeting. It is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race for 4 year olds horses and over, and it is run over a distance of 2 miles and involves 8 hurdles.
The first Christmas Hurdle was held in 1969, and nowadays horses on this exciting racecard are competing for a prize purse of £100,000. There is another financial gain to be had on top of that for the winner as the race is part of the WBX Hurdling Triple Crown and has been since 2006. The Triple Crown is a prize of £1 million to any horse that succeeds in winning the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, the Christmas Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival in one season. It makes for a great betting opportunity for the race itself as you can look out for the favourites, while you can also check out the odds of a horse achieving the 'Triple Crown' which is sure to be a bet that pays out well if it comes in.
The leading trainer in the Christmas Hurdle is currently Noel Meade who has four wins, which includes recent wins in 2006, 2008 and 2009. So it is worth keeping an eye out in the beting for those horses trained by Meade, while eight of the last ten winners have been aged five or six years old.
| Year | Winner | Age | Trainer |
| 2000 | Geos | 5 | Nicky Henderson |
| 2001 | Landing Light | 6 | Nicky Henderson |
| 2002 | Intersky Falcon | 5 | Jonjo O'Neill |
| 2003 | Intersky Falcon | 6 | Jonjo O'Neill |
| 2004 | Harchibald | 5 | Noel Meade |
| 2005 | Feathard Lady | 5 | Colm Murphy |
| 2006 | Jazz Messenger | 6 | Noel Meade |
| 2007 | Straw Bear | 6 | Nick Gifford |
| 2008 | Harchibald | 9 | Noel Meade |
| 2009 | Go Native | 6 | Noel Meade |
| 2010 | Binocular | 7 | Nicky Henderson |
| 2011 | Binocular | 7 | Nicky Henderson |
| 2012 | Darlan | 5 | Nicky Henderson |
| Result | Kempton - 26th Dec 2012 | Age | Jockey | Trainer |
| 1st | Darlan 3/1 | 5 | AP McCoy | N Henderson |
| 2nd | Raya Star 8/1 | 6 | R Thornton | A King |
| 6 Ran |
Odds will appear here when available...
The Champion Hurdle takes place on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival and has witnessed some great winners in the past including Rooster Booster and Binocular.
The race is part of the WBX Hurdling Triple Crown which offers a prize of £1million to any horse that can win the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, the Christmas Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle.
So there are some good betting opportunities to be had, whether on an individual race or to take the triple crown, and the opening day at Cheltenham is always a day to savour.....
BRAND NEW £250 free bet offer.
Open Account - Free £250 Bets With Paddypower
£25 free bet with William Hill.
Open Account - Claim £25 Free With William Hill
Up to £200 worth of free bets with Bet365.
Open Account - Claim £200 Free With Bet365
Ladbrokes are one of the highest rated online bookmakers in the UK and are a superb choice for placing your bets. You can claim a £30 free bet when opening a new account with Ladbrokes by clicking on one of the links on this site.
Once you've had your free bet Ladbrokes will credit your account with a £30 free bet.
Open Account - £30 Free Bet - Ladbrokes
The UK based bookmaker Betfred is now offering a £50 free bet for new clients.
Open Account - Free £50 Bet With Betfred
BetVictor is offering £100 in free bets to all new clients.
Open Account - Open Account - Free £100 Bets With BetVictor
Open an account with Coral and they'll match your first bet with a free bet up to the value of £50.
Open Account - £50 Free Bet with Coral
Betting Directory Twitter Feed
Those looking for some online casino entertainment ought to check out all the latest UK Casino Sign Up offers from the top operators including 32Red and many of the sports betting casinos.
There is excellent information, should you be interested in playing online blackjack, roulette, the best progressives or slots - Online Casino Betting with the best introductory offers
Bookmark This Page