Christmas Hurdle


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The Christmas Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 2 miles (3,219 metres), and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is the second leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling and is scheduled to take place each year during the King George VI Chase meeting on Boxing Day.

History
During the 1960s Kempton staged a 2-mile handicap race on Boxing Day called the Kempton Park Handicap Hurdle. Its winners included Salmon Spray and Saucy Kit – both subsequent winners of the Champion Hurdle. The race was abandoned in 1967 and 1968, and it returned in the guise of the Christmas Hurdle in 1969.

Six winners of the race in its present format have gone on to victory in the Champion Hurdle. The first was Lanzarote, the winner of the latter event in 1974, and the others are Dawn Run (1983–84), Kribensis (1989–90), Faugheen (2014–15), Epatante (2019–20) and Constitution Hill (2022–23).

Records
Most successful horse since 1969 (2 wins):
 * Coral Diver – 1969, 1971
 * Lanzarote – 1973, 1975
 * Kribensis – 1988, 1989
 * Intersky Falcon – 2002, 2003
 * Harchibald – 2004, 2008
 * Binocular – 2010, 2011
 * Faugheen – 2014, 2015
 * Epatante -  2019, 2021 
 * Constitution Hill – 2022, 2023

Leading jockey since 1969 (5 wins):
 * Tony McCoy – Straw Bear (2007), Binocular (2010, 2011), Darlan (2012), My Tent Or Yours (2013)

Leading trainer since 1969 (12 wins):
 * Nicky Henderson – Geos (2000), Landing Light (2001), Binocular (2010, 2011), Darlan (2012), My Tent Or Yours (2013), Buveur d'Air (2017), Verdana Blue (2018), Epatante (2019,2021), Constitution Hill (2022,2023)