Kempton Course Guide

The closest racecourse to central London, situated 16 miles south-west of Trafalgar Square, Kempton Park is famously home of the Christmas jumping showpiece, the King George VI Chase. First run in 1937, the three-mile chase is the second-most important steeplechase in the calendar and boasts a roll of honour equal to the Gold Cup itself. The big race is the feature on a brilliant Boxing Day card that also includes the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle and Feltham Novices’ Chase.

Other significant jump races at Kempton are the Lanzarote Hurdle in late January and, a month later, the Betbright Chase – a handicap over three miles won in the past by Desert Orchid and Rough Quest.

Kempton now stages flat racing throughout the year after its turf course was replaced with a Polytrack synthetic surface in 2006. All of Kempton’s historic races have been transferred to the ‘all-weather’ including the Easter Stakes, Magnolia Stakes and Rosebery Handicap.

Flat Racing (All-Weather)
Jumps Racing

Kempton switched to an all-weather track in 2006 and the surface in use is polytrack. Kempton is a flat, oval-shaped course with two loops. The inner circuit, used for races over five, nine and ten furlongs is sharp and has a finishing straight of just under two furlongs, favouring the speedy, handy type, particularly over the minimum trip. The turn on the outer course is more sweeping and the straight is almost three furlongs, making for a more straightforward test. Over both five and six furlongs, there is a relatively short run to the first bend.

The way the track is prepared at Kempton can play a massive part in whether it suits front-runners or horses coming from behind. Most of the time, the going is officially rated ‘standard’ but I know, from having ridden in America, that all artificial surfaces are dependent on weather conditions. An inside draw is a big advantage on the round course, as you don’t want to be running wide, and there’s a tendency for jockeys to get going a long from home. My preference would be to use patient tactics.

View from the saddle: Jason Weaver

Right handed, flat. Very fair with relatively easy fences, the course characteristics having seemingly remained the same since the opening of the all-weather circuit. Can represent a much stiffer test of stamina than expected on soft/heavy going.

It’s changed a fair bit in recent years, with the Polytrack crossings and all, but I’d still have to say it’s one of my favourite courses. It’s a great test and a fair test. You need a horse that travels and jumps, though, and one of the things you always notice around Kempton is that lots of runners are usually in contention turning in, but those same horses are often well spaced out by the time they get to the last. It’s only a short run from the home turn to that obstacle, but only horses that are travelling well are able to take a breather on that section, while those that have been struggling are having to work too hard to last home.

View from the saddle: Mick Fitzgerald

Kempton Top Times
Last 5 years

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat
All Weather

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
2m	Mambonumberfive (Good)	27 Dec 2025	3m 45.51s
2m 2f	Bluey (Good)	19 Oct 2025	4m 18.95s
2m 4f 110y	Barlovento (Good)	26 Dec 2025	4m 59.21s
3m	Karl Philippe (Good)	06 May 2024	4m 12.96s

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
2m	Sir Gino (Good)	26 Dec 2025	3m 41.29s
2m 5f	Turndlightsdownlow (Good)	19 Oct 2025	4m 59s
3m 110y	Halifax (Good)	06 May 2024	5m 15.35s

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
2m	Fine Shot (Good to Soft-Soft in places)	21 Feb 2026	3m 47.62s

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
5f	Pablo Del Pueblo (Standard / Slow)	17 Jan 2023	59.32s
6f	Night Raider (Standard / Slow)	02 Oct 2024	1m 10.08s
7f	King Zain (Standard / Slow)	04 May 2022	1m 23.82s
1m	Organ (Standard / Slow)	12 Oct 2026	1m 35.8s
1m 1f 219y	Gethin (Standard / Slow)	06 Apr 2026	2m 3.65s
1m 3f	Gamrai (Standard to Slow)	28 Mar 2026	2m 17.19s
1m 3f 219y	Shader (Standard / Slow)	03 Nov 2025	2m 29.45s
1m 7f 218y	Cool Party (Standard / Slow)	29 Mar 2025	3m 25.33s

Kempton Top Trainers
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat
Flat

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
B Pauling	18	8	6	£325,964	44.44%	£22.79
A King	20	6	10	£100,102	30%	£6.41
N J Henderson	36	5	12	£111,178	13.89%	-£18.51
P F Nicholls	38	4	17	£120,757	10.53%	-£21.13
J Tizzard	30	4	17	£44,688	13.33%	-£8.75
O Murphy	14	4	7	£32,964	28.57%	-£3.91
Jamie Snowden	8	4	2	£27,671	50%	£8.00
T Lacey	10	4	1	£78,095	40%	£8.96
Dan Skelton	47	3	24	£86,778	6.38%	-£40.88
F O'Brien	9	3	4	£31,369	33.33%	£7.50

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
N J Henderson	51	19	16	£389,566	37.25%	£15.52
Dan Skelton	51	7	14	£127,206	13.73%	£2.23
Harry Derham	29	7	11	£95,562	24.14%	-£9.72
P F Nicholls	49	6	24	£122,734	12.24%	-£43.40
F O'Brien	26	5	10	£62,318	19.23%	-£12.13
A King	29	3	11	£17,427	10.34%	-£25.88
M Keighley	10	3	3	£14,407	30%	£0.70
T Lawes	7	3	3	£23,764	42.86%	£10.13
G & J Moore	53	2	24	£15,315	3.77%	-£45.75
C Gordon	39	2	15	£8,582	5.13%	-£27.17

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
C Gordon	7	3	0	£8,169	42.86%	£10.50
A King	7	1	3	£2,723	14.29%	£4.00
B Pauling	6	1	2	£8,845	16.67%	-£3.25
F O'Brien	3	1	1	£2,723	33.33%	-£1.25
N J Henderson	3	1	1	£2,723	33.33%	-£2.50
K Burke	1	1	0	£7,804	100%	£40.00
H Fry	1	1	0	£2,723	100%	£5.00
Jamie Snowden	1	1	0	£8,845	100%	£9.00
Harry Derham	1	1	0	£2,722	100%	£1.75
Dan Skelton	6	0	4	£	0%	-£7.00

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
A M Balding	402	64	173	£547,969	15.92%	-£139.76
C Appleby	123	52	48	£443,908	42.28%	-£11.59
J & T Gosden	217	44	101	£415,512	20.28%	-£57.37
J Butler	269	34	79	£158,660	12.64%	-£68.92
R Hughes	205	34	74	£178,829	16.59%	-£39.84
J R Fanshawe	206	31	85	£254,575	15.05%	-£40.00
R M Beckett	195	31	70	£265,872	15.9%	-£67.68
R Varian	158	29	66	£140,800	18.35%	-£64.77
W J Haggas	158	28	57	£180,789	17.72%	-£36.77
G Boughey	156	28	52	£169,485	17.95%	-£40.88

Kempton Top Jockeys
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat
Flat

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
Ben Jones	21	9	8	£335,470	42.86%	£21.79
G Sheehan	16	7	6	£193,282	43.75%	£20.50
Brendan Powell	23	5	13	£56,306	21.74%	£2.75
Thomas Bellamy	22	5	9	£79,592	22.73%	-£5.22
Tom Cannon	20	5	8	£109,587	25%	£2.98
Harry Cobden	39	4	19	£151,692	10.26%	-£8.13
N de Boinville	31	4	10	£85,163	12.9%	-£18.51
Stan Sheppard	10	4	1	£78,095	40%	£8.96
S Bowen	18	3	7	£32,213	16.67%	-£6.00
J M Quinlan	5	3	2	£106,549	60%	£22.50

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
N de Boinville	32	13	9	£302,104	40.63%	-£3.03
Harry Cobden	52	7	27	£141,248	13.46%	-£37.53
Paul O'Brien	27	6	11	£90,661	22.22%	-£8.33
J J Burke	29	5	12	£62,862	17.24%	-£15.01
Harry Skelton	29	5	9	£70,275	17.24%	-£10.52
James Bowen	21	4	10	£71,091	19.05%	£11.55
S Bowen	17	4	7	£31,290	23.53%	-£2.55
Ben Jones	24	4	6	£77,144	16.67%	£11.50
Thomas Bellamy	28	3	10	£17,840	10.71%	-£19.21
Sam Twiston-Davies	20	3	6	£51,069	15%	-£2.04

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
Rex Dingle	4	2	0	£5,446	50%	£9.00
G Sheehan	3	2	0	£16,649	66.67%	£48.00
Ben Jones	5	1	2	£8,845	20%	-£2.25
N de Boinville	4	1	1	£2,723	25%	-£2.50
Freddie Gordon	3	1	0	£2,723	33.33%	£1.50
J J Burke	3	1	0	£2,723	33.33%	-£0.25
Tom Cannon	2	1	0	£2,723	50%	£9.00
Bryan Carver	2	1	0	£2,723	50%	£4.00
Mr F Maguire	1	1	0	£2,722	100%	£2.75
Harry Skelton	5	0	4	£	0%	-£6.00

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
Oisin Murphy	432	95	189	£727,671	21.99%	-£119.93
Billy Loughnane	439	72	171	£391,944	16.4%	-£82.68
Rossa Ryan	365	59	138	£403,008	16.16%	-£87.96
W Buick	119	50	40	£498,993	42.02%	£2.59
Daniel Muscutt	348	47	120	£303,551	13.51%	-£85.12
H Crouch	240	43	74	£336,089	17.92%	-£28.76
K Shoemark	246	36	82	£212,961	14.63%	£18.27
Tom Marquand	197	36	69	£264,913	18.27%	£6.77
J Mitchell	276	35	96	£180,874	12.68%	-£80.13
L Morris	406	30	128	£156,857	7.39%	-£218.34