Events / Simon Rowlands / 24 December 2007 /

Simon Rowlands previews the big events on a packed bank holiday schedule...

As a devout atheist, I tend to view Christmas as an inconvenience. But fortunately the one true religion - horseracing - borrows the occasion to have a festival of its own. I'm sure I'm not alone in treating the blank racing days of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as an excuse to pick out a few tasty bets for Boxing Day while others are preoccupied with The Queen's Speech and yet another re-run of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Indeed, the only thing that would drag me away from the Form Book at 15:00 on Christmas Day would be if Her Majesty were to use the occasion to share her thoughts on some of the excellent racing ahead. Her horse Barbers Shop looks to have a solid chance in the 13:20 at Kempton on Boxing Day, for instance. Never mind going on YouTube, Ma'am, the way to make the monarchy popular again is to put your subjects onto a winner!

Most eyes on Boxing Day will indeed be on the action at Kempton, where the aforementioned 13:20 is one of six races on a card which more than makes up in quality for what it lacks in quantity. In particular, the centrepiece King George VI Chase at 14:30 promises to write another fascinating chapter in the story of Kauto Star.

I have one reservation about Kauto Star - mentioned previously - but that is about his stamina, not his ability, and his stamina is unlikely to be tested severely in a small field, on a flat track, at a bare three miles and with the ground only just on the soft side of good. The second and third from 12 months ago, Exotic Dancer and Racing Demon, will do well to get closer under such circumstances, let alone to win, and Kauto Star looks rock-solid at around [1.80] on Betfair to me.

A more vulnerable short-priced horse, in my opinion, is Harchibald in the preceding Christmas Hurdle at 13:55. He figures at a prohibitive [1.66] to account for five opponents, none of which has shown itself to be up to the usual level required to win this prestigious prize. Harchibald has, winning here in 2004 and returning from a spell in the wilderness to score impressively at Newcastle recently.

So, what can beat Harchibald? Harchibald, that's who. Noel Meade could train the stable cat to win a race at present, but I doubt even he could get a leopard to change its spots. Harchibald is a talented enigma with plenty of "previous" of flattering to deceive, notably in the 2005 Champion Hurdle, in which he refused to go past Hardy Eustace when it mattered. The small field on Boxing Day means there will be no hiding place for him, and I'd rather be against him in the hope that something makes him battle than with him at his current odds.

The best bet on the card looks to be Benetwood in the novice handicap chase at 15:05. On the face of it, this is a really competitive little event, but on closer inspection I think the selection stands out. The horse he beat in good style and in a decent time at Warwick earlier this month, Helen Wood, won impressively at Exeter on Thursday, and Benetwood looks on a winning mark here, especially with the step up in trip to two-and-a-half miles likely to suit him. Odds of [3.7] on Betfair look too big.

There is no shortage of opportunity elsewhere on Boxing Day - eight meetings in all across Britain and three in Ireland - and my eye is drawn to the claims of Otavi for a place in the 12:40 at Limerick (she's consistent and very likely to be suited by the step up in trip) and to a place lay of Dickie Le Davoir in the 14:00 at Wolverhampton.

The latter has the best form in an undistinguished claimer, but that form is some way back, on turf and at trips shorter than this extended seven furlongs. Anyone who has been following all-weather racing at Wolverhampton recently will be aware that the surface is a good deal more testing there than usual. You need stamina to do well at the track at present, and that could be the undoing of Dickie Le Davoir and perhaps a few other well-fancied horses over the Festive period as well.

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