It’s Ireland’s busiest single date of the racing year but many of the country’s top riders will be on St Stephen’s Day duty at Kempton.
Rachael Blackmore and Paul Townend are among those targeting Ladbrokes King George VI Chase glory while the latter is on board Lossiemouth for a mouthwatering Christmas Hurdle clash with Constitution Hill.
The Anglo-Irish head-to-head between Willie Mullins’s star mare and the brilliant but fragile pride of British National Hunt racing is one to relish.
Perhaps not since Istabraq’s final start all of 22 years ago has so much uncertainty revolved around an elite hurdler’s appearance.
Lossiemouth against Constitution Hill set to be a Kempton Christmas Hurdle cracker
Gordon Elliott saddles three of the four runners in Leopardstown’s €100k St Stephen’s Day feature
Positive weather outlook could provide bumper Christmas festival attendances at Leopardstown
Henry de Bromhead’s Jungle Boogie gets the Christmas party jumping at Ascot
Unbeaten in eight starts, but unseen since winning at Kempton a year ago, Constitution Hill already officially ranks among the highest-rated hurdlers of all time.
However, his infrequent appearances in public gallops since then have generated significant coverage, much of it centred on speculation that even at the age of just seven he might just be a busted flush.
Trainer Nicky Henderson’s frustration at that has been obvious, but the acid test of whether Constitution Hill is still the brilliant horse he once was comes against Lossiemouth.
Beaten just once over flights, the mare is favourite for Cheltenham’s championship in March on the back of a silky-smooth Hatton’s Grace victory at Fairyhouse earlier this month. Mullins won the Christmas Hurdle back-to-back with Faugheen a decade ago.
At his peak, and on ratings, Constitution Hill would deal with Lossiemouth. But in the circumstances, and with her 7lb sex allowance, even Constitution Hill’s most fervent fans will be biting their fingernails come 1.55pm on Thursday.
That Istabraq eventually was pulled up in that memorable 2002 Champion Hurdle is hardly reassurance either.
Istabraq’s owner JP McManus has won practically everything worth winning in National Hunt racing, bar the King George. It’s a notable gap in his big-race CV and he’s relying on a pair of Grand National-winning trainers to fix it.
Neither Jimmy Mangan, a National winner through Monty’s Pass in 2003, nor Emmet Mullins, an Aintree hero with Noble Yeats, has won a Grade One contest in Britain.
Bar the Gold Cup, there’s hardly any more prestigious chase prize than the King George and there will be plenty of public focus on the popular Mangan in particular who saddles Spillane’s Tower.
Supplemented into the race by McManus, last month’s Durkan runner-up would ideally like softer going than currently anticipated but should relish a step up to three miles.
Il Est Francais tops a French pair in the race while Grey Dawning heads a home team in an 11-strong field that’s the biggest in 15 years. Blackmore is on the stalwart Envoi Allen while Irish hopes are also carried by Banbridge.
That open appearance to the race could result in a touch of value about Corbetts Cross who will be ridden by top amateur Derek O’Connor although Mullins has fears about a lack of watering at Kempton.
“I’d be very worried about good ground. Especially given the facilities there with the lake, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of any watering. There’s a chance he might not run, we have a championship chaser and they are not designed to run on good ground,” he said.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
