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Which one though, moehat? Sandown is within the Jockey Club portfolio but it is a very different track from Kempton.
Huntingdon (another JC track) was suggested earlier in the thread but let’s be realistic – the King George isn’t going to go there.
Maybe I am putting 2 and 2 together and making 5 but why was a Boxing Day fixture introduced at Aintree in 2023 out of the blue?
I always liked Kempton. It didn’t have the glamour of Ascot or Goodwood but it worked well enough on its own terms. I used to like going there when I lived in London.
To my mind, its death knell was all the Flat racing being moved to the all weather track. It simply hasn’t worked.
In the early days, there was talk of crowds from London travelling up on a Saturday night. That never happened. There are far too many competing attractions in London. How many people were realistically going to get a train from Waterloo to Kempton on a dark Saturday night?
I haven’t been to Kempton for about ten years, so I can’t say what it is like now. But it seems clear that the track exists for one day in the year, while the rest of the time it is sparsely attended.
I will be sad if it goes but it is beginning to look inevitable.
Completely agree, CAS.
Getting rid of the old turf flat courses and putting in the artificial surface marked the beginning of the end; the average attendances for the AW fixtures are pitiful and, although the jumps racing is always decent, thanks to the support of Seven Barrows and other major yards, not enough bums on seats (or spending at the bar) means that the end looks inevitable.
I used to go to Kempton regularly as a kid, but haven’t been since Covid struck, by the way.
I’m so glad that I’m old. If this had happened when I was younger and had just got back into racing I would have been heartbroken, King George Day being pretty much the highlight of my year.
Take away the King George and what are we left with at Kempton?
The more I know the less I understand.
Seems like the Jockey Club kept it quiet that they sold the option rights to Redrow to potentially develop the site when it originally tried to sell the course off in 2017 and it blew up in their faces when even the local council said no.
Yes it was a crying shame that the turf course was ripped up for an AW course especially when you consider now that those fixtures (that had decent crowds when it was a turf course, especially the Easter meeting) by and large are now attend by literally one man and his dog. If the Jockey Club want to throw money at Cheltenham and Aintree why not include Kempton as its jumping course is very fair, whilst still being a stiff jumping test and can comparabally provide decent ground during winter.
It also has a rich racing history (which is something the Jockey Club prides itself in being custodians of) with a veritable whos who of jumping greats like Cottage Rake, Mandarin (2), Mill House, Arkle, Pendil (2), Captain Christy (2), Silver Buck (2), Wayward Lad (3), Burrough Hill Lad, Dessie (4), One Man (2), Best Mate and Kauto Star (5) all appearing on the King George’s roll of honour with Lanzarote (2), Birds Nest, Dawn Run, Binocular (2), Faugheen (2), Buveur d’Air and Constitution Hill (3) all appearing on the respective Christmas Hurdle’s roll of honour.
Hopefully, Redrow don’t have anything currently planned as my understanding is that the option deal the Jockey Club struck with them is due to end in 2028. However, if Redrow were to come up with a new housing plan and with the government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill passing through parliament and set for royal assent which would provide enhanced powers for overriding local planning objections that would then mean that the Jockey Club would have no recourse but to sell off Kempton to Redrow.
Have to say it was very good hearing Hendo and Nicholls sounding the rallying call but have to say that I was most disappointed with Skelton’s comment of:
“It’s hard to defend racecourses because we don’t own them – they’re owned by groups and other people – and if the decision is to sell, then what can we do about it? They’re talking about whether we’ll lose Kempton, but we are going to lose it. It’s just a question of time. We’ve all got to accept that”
In thirty years time on the chase, Bradley Walsh will ask the question, Who was the last winner of the King George run at Kempton Park?
Sat at home with a can of skol HDLG will say through gritted teeth (false teeth potentially) Gaelic ******* WarriorGaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Can we introduce a Post Of The Year category to the Awards. Because Nathan has just won it.
What’s the crowd there on Racing Post Chase Day or whatever it’s called now , that was always a good day out on course in 90s , I assume still well attended .
Flat trainers seem keen on running good ones there backend of year , I like the AW racing so bit of a minority , forms plays out my local course through winter , allowing for fact it’s mainly moderate horses .Darent bare thinking about the likes of Dessies and Kautos stars ashes are there. Not sure if scattered or in urns type pots.
Boxing day wouldn’t be the same without the king George at Kempton.
Yes they have run the race at Sundown before being left handed track also as One Man won it there and then in same year different season due to cancelation of race at Kempton
But the king George is Kemptons home so many memoriesVf x
We went to Desert Orchids ‘funeral’; the only time we’ve ever been to the track itself ( it’s such a treck from where we live).
Hughsie I don’t know which to take most offence from … Skol..false teeth…Gaelic winning the KG… actually I do … the warrior winning the KG , he’ll be off his feet in the KG , how slow you say …I’ll leave this year
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
One question to be asked if Kempton does close – does the King George have to be run on Boxing Day.
Crowd figures have declined from 20k+ to under 14k in recent years, and that’s partly down to the total lack of public transport. The station and line to Waterloo is useful when it’s running, but it’s really a local commuter line that stops at every semi-detached along the way.
Sandown would have the same problem on Boxing Day and they have a lot less parking space than Kempton.
I don’t know what the parking arrangements are like at Aintree but Merseyrail runs a good service from Liverpool Central to Ormskirk on Boxing Day, stopping at Aintree en route.
Of course, that is not much use to anyone looking to travel from further afield unless they manage to find a train running into Liverpool on the 26th..
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