Race type - Mixed
Kempton
Course details
They race on the all-weather at Kempton all year round but the track is still one of Britain's premier jumps venues and is home to what is one of the most important races in the calendar, the King George VI Chase, run each year on Boxing Day.
GUIDE - For Racecourse
Right-handed, mixed, Polytrack, oval 1m2f circuit inside turf course.
Race-goers can thank (or curse depending on how many winners they've backed!) Sir Henry Hyde for their day out as the nineteenth century toff took a liking for the place when driving past in his carriage, purchased the land and proceeded to build a racecourse, with the first meeting taking place six years later in 1878. Situated just 16 miles from the centre of London, the place soon became an extremely popular destination for the landed gentry and enjoyed royal patronage too with the Prince Of Wales (later King Edward VII) a regular visitor. But Sir Henry must be turning in his grave now as the turf track was ripped up in 2005 and re-opened for business 11 months later as a floodlit all-weather venue, much to the disdain of the traditionalists.
Track / Draw Bias
Low numbers are best over 5f (for the reason given above) and preferable over 6f, while those drawn very high over 7f are often left with a fair bit to do. Otherwise, this is probably the fairest all-weather track in terms of the draw and it is often more important to be drawn where the pace is.
Principal Races
The Easter Stakes was once a recognised trial for 2000 Guineas and Rebel Rebel finished runner-up here in 2005 before going on to fill the same spot in the Newmarket Classic. However, the switch to an all-weather heralded a decline in the race's prestige and that can be said for the other big contests run here: the Listed Magnolia Stakes, run at the same meeting, and the Group 3 Sirenia and September Stakes, which take place in early September. There are further Listed races staged in November, including the Wild Flower and Hyde Stakes (both with £17k purses in 2011), and the level of prize money is higher than at the other all-weather tracks.
Course Characteristics
That's progress I suppose and to it's credit Kempton does tend to stage better quality racing compared to the other all-weather tracks, Southwell and Wolverhampton in particular, and keeps the 'show on the road' in the dark winter months. It comprises an inner and outer track: 5f and 1m2f races are run on the inner, while 6f, 7f, 1m, 1m3f, 1m4f, 2m races use the outer (top) course. With both being situated inside the turf jumps course, they are sharp in nature and front runners and prominent racers have a decent record, particularly over 5f as the runners are on the turn virtually straight away and until they join the straight. That said, there is minimal kickback here and winners can come from just about anywhere.
Top Trainers
Richard Hannon rarely leaves a meeting without a winner on the board, having sent out an incredible 97 winners in the past five seasons, albeit at a modest strike rate of 14%. Gary Moore trains the majority of his winners on the all-weather and 56 have come here in the same period. Tony Carroll, Andrew Balding and Saeed Bin Suroor make regular successful forays here, while Newmarket trainers John Gosden and James Fanshawe are currently operating at a strike rate of 25%.
Top Jockeys
Backing jockeys blind on this surface is for losers but a selective approach can pay dividends with Jim Crowley and Richard Hughes, both of whom are superb judges of pace and boot home plenty of winners (96 and 89 winners respectively over the past five seasons) as a result. Neil Callan boasts the best strike rate of the top jockeys with around 17% of his rides obliging. Look out also for Adam Kirby and Luke Morris, who are quickly establishing themselves as smooth operator's on this surface.