We all hope you had a lovely Christmas with your loved ones. However, we all know the best day of the Christmas period is Boxing Day as the racing is top-notch. We have plenty of cards to go through, but it's best not to get carried away and stick up shed loads.
Rizzel's tips
Corbetts Cross 16/1 (EW) – Kempton 2.30
The main race at Kempton on Boxing Day is the King George, and over the years we've had many spectacular races and winners. Last year was no different as Hewick defied all odds by turning for home in last position before staying on strongly to deny Bravesmansgame after Shishkin unseated Nico two from home. This year, we have a good turnout, with a wide variety of horses with three French raiders, including last year's Kauto Star winner on Boxing Day and then we have some second-season novices who are trying to bridge the gap to the older horses.
After much deliberation, I've ended up coming to the conclusion that Corbetts Cross is the play in the race. There are a few in this race who are of interest, but there are a few too many question marks to be assured of having a bet. Banbridge has the class to win this race, but the doubt over the trip was enough to put me off him as his only attempt over 3m was a very poor one a couple of years ago. I thought Spillane's Tower was worth a shot as Mark Walsh fancies him to my selection. He ran very well in the John Durkan when finishing a good second to Fact To File, finishing one place ahead of Gallopin Des Champs, but this race is different and the majority of the horses in the John Durkan were running over an inadequate distance and would not be revved up, so he might be flattered.
With a couple of likely pacemakers in the race with The Real Whacker and Il Est Francais, I thought this could turn into a real stamina test and I wanted to be on a guaranteed stayer and that was why I've opted for Corbetts Cross who won the 3m 6f race at Cheltenham, and he managed to win that on the bridle. Granted, that race wasn't anywhere near as competitive as today's race, but it shows the engine he has, and given this race is likely to be run at a quick tempo on good ground, you're going to need a stayer. My main issue for Corbetts Cross is his jumping as it can often fall apart, but if he can maintain a good level of jumping, I think he can go well in this race. He isn't short of pace, as shown by winning a Grade 2 over 2m over hurdles and beating Found A Fifty, who has since turned into a solid 2m chaser.
Obviously, Grey Dawning is a good horse who stays and jumps very well, but he seems limited to soft/heavy ground, so I'd be gobsmacked if he were to handle today's conditions just as well.
Is This For Real 7/2 – Aintree 3.25
With all of the good racing on it could appear to be foolish going for a Bumper at Aintree, but I have been swayed to back him on the positive feedback coming out of the Fergal O'Brien yard.
Fergal's yard hasn't hit the level that many would think it would as they are normally mustard in the first half of the season, but in recent weeks it looks like they have turned that around. Crambo was a Grade 1 winner for them last weekend and they've had a couple of other winners. Fergal's yard is no stranger to bumper debutante winners, and I thought it was very peculiar how Paddy Brennan was very supportive of Is This For Real on a recent podcast with Matt Chapman, labelling this horse as his most exciting horse to watch over the Christmas period, which speaks volumes when you have the quality of horses on show over the next few days.
Tony Bloom acquired this horse for £80,000 after he won a 2m 4f PTP by 2L. Tony is a very shrewd operator, as shown by the way he works his business at Brighton Football Club. He's also not shy of having a bet, so monitor the market.
Ioupy Collonges 11/4 – Wincanton 2.03
This five-runner-race is a great little race which will go under the radar, you have four horses turning up to Wincanton in great form, three finishing as runner-up and a recent double winner in Stans The Man. The horse who caught my eye the most was Ioupy Collonges who ran a very nice race at Doncaster, but was evidently lacking a recent run and was tired in that race, but ran with plenty of credit and now might be the time to catch him.
Ioupy Collonges was narrowly defeated by Rock My Way at Doncaster, and the winner has been a nearly horse who has got some very good pieces of form over the last twelve months, going very close to some horses who have franked his form line, so it was a good first run back for the Nicholls horse. My selection was travelling much better than the winner for the majority of the race, but a couple of mistakes later on in the race knocked the stuffing out of him and reduced his chances of winning when combined with the fact he was clearly undercooked for the run and it wasn't the be all and end all that he had to win that race. He showed he has stamina in reserves as he found a second wind late on and was running down the winner who was running on fumes, so the extra furlong he runs over today should be right up his street.
The horses below him in the weights have to be respected as they are coming into this race in very good form, but I think the level of horse Ioupy Collonges pushed to a close finish is above what the others have achieved.
Hokelami 7/2 – Sedgefield 12.50
My final selection for Boxing Day is the first horse who will run for me and that is Hokelami who runs at Sedgefield. This is a bit of a dodgy selection as this horse's recent form isn't very appealing, but I think the return to this track could see him return to form.
It was a strange performance at Lingfield last time out for Hokelami as he was jumping well in the lead and then went from being at the front to being pushed along down the back straight and it seemed a bit strange how that happened, so whether it was by design to get him ready for today's race, where people like to land a ‘Christmas gamble', I'm not sure as he ran much better at the same venue on the same ground the time before.
This horse won off a 3lb lower mark at this track in the same graded race earlier this year. Effectively, Hokelami is 7lb better off than he was when winning by 9L at this track as Sean Clarke claims 10lbs, so the ability is there off this type of mark, but also this track is a place which evidently suits his running style. There is a strong possibility that he can get out in front like he did in March and dictate the race as this is only a six-runner field, so I think he has a great chance of winning for a trainer who doesn't send many to this track and is good with the small amount of ammunition he has.
