The Kempton Christmas Festival, which kicks off on Boxing Day, and the Welsh Grand National on Friday, light up the British festive racing scene. However, the most spectacular show comes in Ireland, with the 2024 edition of the four-day Leopardstown Christmas Festival.
Starting on Boxing Day (or St. Stephen’s Day to the Irish) and concluding on Sunday, 29th December, this cracking fixture lays on a post-Christmas feast featuring no fewer than six Grade 1 contests. So, with the final fields beginning to take shape, who can we expect to see strutting their stuff at the famous Foxrock track?
Racing Post Long Distance Novice Chase (26th December)
With five wins each, Irish training titans Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott share the all-time lead in this contest but it is Cullentra House which will be strongly represented in 2024, with three out of the four runners who are set to go to post.
The market is headed by the Gordon Elliott-trained Better Days Ahead. Showing signs of promise over hurdles, including a solid third in a Grade 1 at Punchestown, this Milan gelding always promised to improve over fences. He delivered on that assessment on his chase debut at Navan when slamming 2024 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle champ Slade Steel by four lengths. He will be joined by stablemates Croke Park and Stellar Story.
The 2023 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle champ Impaire Et Passe was set to lead the charge for Mullins though he looks likely to opt for Saturday’s Faugheen Novice Chase. Successful three times at the highest level over hurdles, he made an emphatic start to life over fences when landing a Beginners Chase at Fairyhouse by 12 lengths.
Paddy’s Reward Club Chase (27th December)
Favourite for the King George VI Chase for much of the season, Arkle champ Gaelic Warrior will instead stick to what he does best and follow a 2m chase campaign. With the Queen Mother Champion Chase as his ultimate destination, he takes his first step to Cheltenham in this 2m1f contest. Solid in his first outing at this track in 2023, he fluffed his lines when continually jumping out to his right in the 2024 Ladbrokes Novice Chase in February. He is unlikely to get away with such errors here.
The reigning Queen Mother Champion Chase king, Captain Guinness, lies in wait amongst the possible opposition. Hailing from the yard of Henry de Bromhead, this nine-year-old has never truly shone at Leopardstown and needs to bounce back from a health scare on his return at Navan in November.
Dual Grade 1 winners Found A Fifty and Marine Nationale remain in the line-up and may be ready to pounce if the big two disappoint.
Paddy Power Future Champions Novice Hurdle (December 27th)
Landed by Istabraq, Hurricane Fly, Jezki, and Sizing John in the past, this novice event has a habit of throwing up a future star. The most intriguing runner amongst the early entries was the current favourite for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Salvator Mundi. Raced only twice for Willie Mullins, he failed to deliver on his lofty reputation when only sixth in the 2024 Triumph Hurdle. However, he looked like a far more polished performer on his return at Tipperary when hacking up by a resounding 62 lengths but has been withdrawn from the list of entrants.
Leaving an open looking race, Mullins still saddles Karniquet, Karafon and Sea Of Sands. Adding in the Gordon Elliott duo of Romeo Coolio and Bleu De Vassy means that this race promises to be a cracking renewal.
Savills Hurdle (December 28th)
Having finished first and second in the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan last time out, Joseph O’Brien’s Home By The Lee and the Henry de Bromhead-trained Bob Ollinger are set to renew rivalry in this 2m7½f contest. That victory handed Home By The Lee a 2-1 head-to-head lead against his rival, and the 2022 winner looks set to start favourite in 2024.
Current Stayers Hurdle champ Teahupoo would add significant interest if taking up his entry, but carrying the same Robcour silks as Bob Olinger, he may head elsewhere. However, this is deemed a plausible target for the Shark Hanlon star Hewick. Best known for his win in the 2023 King George VI Chase, he is not to be underestimated over the smaller obstacles, having landed the Grade 1 US Grand National Hurdle in 2022.
Savills Chase (December 28th)
The latest stepping stone for Ireland’s Cheltenham Gold Cup hopefuls is the headline act on Day 3 of the meeting. Landed by six subsequent Gold Cup winners since 2000, the 2024 renewal may see a clash between three of the top four in the market for the March showstopper.
Fact To File mastered dual Gold Cup king Galopin Des Champs and 2024 runner-up Gerri Colombe last time out in the John Durkan Memorial Chase. However, that came over a trip of 2m3½f. If he repeats the feat over this trip, expect to see him harden at the head of the Gold Cup market. Galopin Des Champs arrives as the defending champ, having produced a sizzling display to see off Gerri Colombe by a massive 23 lengths in 2023.
December Festival Hurdle (December 29th)
Last, but by no means least, we have a potential firecracker of a hurdle event, with Lossiemouth, State Man, and Brighterdaysahead all amongst the current entries for this 2m event.
Current Champion Hurdle favourite Lossiemouh arrives on a six-race winning streak and put in a monstrous display to thrash Teahupoo in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse. She drops back from 2m4f here but may be tough to beat if in the same form.
However, the fellow Willie Mullins runner State Man arrives as the reigning Champion Hurdle king. Successful in the 2022 and 2023 editions of this, and the winner of all four completed starts at Leopardstown, he won’t go down without a fight.
Or perhaps Brighterdaysahead will prove too good for them both. The Gordon Elliott star became the first horse to beat State Man at Punchestown when claiming the Morgiana Hurdle last time out and would boost her own Champion Hurdle claims with a win in this.