Weekend Preview / Timeform / 30 December 2008 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Timeform reflect on the highs and lows of the festive racing calendar...

Although it has a lot of competition these days, the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day still has strong claims to be the main course in the veritable feast of post-Christmas racing.

For the third consecutive year, the race was dominated by the outstanding Kauto Star who in beating Alberta's Run and Voy Por Ustedes by eight lengths and half a length became just the third horse to win the race three times alongside Wayward Lad and Desert Orchid.

Having travelled strongly throughout, Kauto Star's superior turn of foot was the main difference between him and the rest and despite another error at the final fence he was allowed to come home with something to spare over his rivals. The bare form of this renewal is not as strong as in the previous two seasons, though few who witnessed "Kauto" winning his third King George will dwell on that fact for long.

Earlier on the card another old favourite at Kempton, the ever-unpredictable Harchibald, won his second Christmas Hurdle from Snap Tie and Blue Bajan. The outcome may have been very different however had favourite Punjabi, who was upsides when taking a crashing fall two out, stayed on his feet.

Breedsbreeze took the other Grade 1 on the card, the Feltham Novices' Chase, and now finds himself atop most ante-post lists for the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Elsewhere, last season's Arkle winner Tidal Bay tackled three miles plus for the first time and although beaten into second by Nozic in Wetherby's Rowland Meyrick Chase lost little in defeat, putting up his best performance to date despite looking awkward for most of the race.

The 27th of December is traditionally Welsh National Day at Chepstow, though tradition was not the order of the day as for the first time an Irish-trained runner took Wales' biggest racing prize. Notre Pere, trained by Jim Dreaper in Killsallaghan near Dublin, jumped soundly and stayed on well to beat Cornish Sett by seven lengths, with 2006 winner Halcon Genelardais in third placed in the race for the third consecutive year.

Ante-post gamble and 9/2 favourite Mon Mome failed to jump with much fluency early on and was perhaps not quite over his exertions from winning a valuable prize at Cheltenham fifteen days earlier.

The Grade 1 Finale Juvenile Hurdle followed, and Alan King won the race for the second consecutive year with Walkon, paying a big compliment to his Newbury conqueror Zaynar in the process. Having travelled well under Choc Thornton, Walkon drew clear up the run-in to beat the filly Pepite de Soleil by five lengths. He will command respect in any juvenile contest he lines up in, with the Finesse at Cheltenham next month a likely target.

Back at Kempton, the Desert Orchid Chase acts as the feature on the second day of their Christmas Festival, and it saw German raider Fiepes Shuffle win in Britain at his fifth attempt, gamely regaining the lead from Petit Robin after the last. Favourite Twist Magic seemed to never really take much interest and came home second to last.

Leopardstown have a Christmas festival of their own, and the feature came on Sunday in the Lexus Chase, where Gold Cup third Neptune Collonges made his much-anticipated reappearance. Having jumped very well in front, Neptune Collonges was starting to come under pressure when falling two out, leaving the way clear for former Gold Cup runner-up Exotic Dancer to finally secure a Grade 1 victory at the ninth time of asking (he had been placed in six of his previous eight runs at the highest level). He could return to Ireland for the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup in February as a final preparation for a tilt at either the Gold Cup or the Ryanair at the Festival.