Boxing Day at Kempton Park is one of the fixed points of the British jumps season. The King George VI Chase is the second most important staying chase in Britain after the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and its list of racing results reads like a roll call of the sport’s greatest horses. A handful of them made the race their own.
A Christmas institution
The King George was first run in 1937 and moved to its traditional Boxing Day slot after the Second World War. It is a Grade 1 chase over three miles on Kempton’s flat, right-handed track.
That flat circuit makes it a different test from the Gold Cup. Cheltenham’s undulations and stiff uphill finish reward pure stamina, while Kempton favours horses with speed who jump fluently and travel well. Some top stayers have struggled to win both, which is part of what makes the race so revealing.
Arkle’s win and his final race
Arkle, the greatest steeplechaser of all, won the King George in 1965. He returned to Kempton a year later as the hot favourite, but fractured a pedal bone in his foot during the race and finished second. He never ran again.
His single victory is small compared with his three Gold Cups, but his last race gives the King George a place in his story that no other race shares.
Wayward Lad and the Dickinson years
Wayward Lad won three King Georges, in 1982, 1983 and 1985, and was the first horse to win the race three times. Trained by Michael Dickinson and later by his mother Monica, he was a classic Kempton horse, quick and accurate at his fences, though he never managed to win the Gold Cup.
Desert Orchid, the grey who belonged to Boxing Day
Desert Orchid took the race in 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990, becoming the first four-time winner. Trained by David Elsworth, the bold, front-running grey won over a public that rarely followed jump racing, and his popularity grew with every Christmas.
He was especially well suited to right-handed tracks, which made Kempton an ideal venue. A statue of him stands at the course today, and his ashes are buried there.
Kauto Star and the record five
Kauto Star went one better. Trained by Paul Nicholls and usually ridden by Ruby Walsh, he won in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, then lost his crown to Long Run in a race postponed to January because of frost.
Many thought his best days were behind him, but he came back to win the race for a fifth time in December 2011, beating Long Run in the process. Five King Georges is the record, and few expect it to be broken. Kauto Star also won two Gold Cups and was the first horse to regain that crown.
Paul Nicholls and Kempton
Nicholls has won the race more times than any other trainer. Alongside Kauto Star, he won it with See More Business, Silviniaco Conti, Clan Des Obeaux and Frodon. Frodon’s win in 2020 also made Bryony Frost the first woman to ride a King George winner.
Why the race keeps its status
The King George sits in a perfect place in the calendar. It comes after the early-season build-up and before the spring festivals, so it often decides which horse heads to Cheltenham as Gold Cup favourite.
It also gives racing a big crowd and a national audience at a time of year when few other sports compete for attention. For many families, Boxing Day at Kempton is as much a tradition as Christmas dinner. As long as the best staying chasers in Britain and Ireland keep turning up, the race will keep adding names to a list already full of legends.
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