How To Bet £20 on the Boxing Day races

Shishkin’s naughty streak seems to be factored into his price for the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase and he looks the bet in the showpiece at Kempton on Boxing Day. 

The 9-2 offered by William Hill reflects that he refused to race at Ascot last month and that Nicky Henderson has since been unable to get a prep run into him. 

However, I’m prepared to forgive the six-time Grade One winner his lapse last month and the likely good ground means his general level of fitness will not be examined as much as it would if underfoot conditions were testing. In any case, his overall record when fresh is encouraging and he’s had a recent away day at Kempton to help tune him up. 

The Henderson camp are going to be more pro-active with Shishkin before the race gets under way and the cheekpieces that he wore for the first time at Ascot have been discarded. His past four visits to Kempton have ended in wide-margin wins and he’s a measured jumper. 

Allaho and Bravemansgame are preferred to him in the betting but the former has to prove he’s the force he once was after his well-documented health issues, while Bravemansgame, seeking to retain his crown, has not run with a stone of his best in his two starts this campaign after his tough races in the spring. 

The 2m maiden hurdle on the card (3.05) is unlikely to attract much attention on a day when there are 77 races in Britain and Ireland, but I’ll be paying it close attention because the Alan King-trained Selwan catches the eye at a whopping 50-1 after a wind op.  

He’s been written off by the layers after stopping quickly and being pulled up on his hurdling bow at Kempton last month. That reverse followed a a couple of heavy defeats on the Flat in the first half of the year where, like at Kempton, he checked out tamely. 

However, those efforts mask the fact that Selwan has flashed the ability that he showed on the Flat in France in 2022, when he won three times at up to a mile-and-a-half. The four-year-old arrived on these shores with a rating of 95 on the level but his breathing has almost certainly been an issue to judge by the way he’s folded after travelling well. He jumped well at Kempton and if the wind op has worked, then he’s a massive price to bounce back with a bang. 

My other two bets on the card are General Medrano, available at 7/1 for the Ladbrokes Boost Your Odds On Racing Novices' Limited Handicap Chase and Artistic Endeavour, who is a best-priced 5/1 for the 2m 5f Ladbrokes Get Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap Hurdle. 

General Medrano has made a bright start to his chasing career, winning at Uttoxeter and Huntingdon before splitting Brave Kingdom (received 6lb) and Martatar (received 15lb) off a mark of 134 at Plumpton last time. 

He’s been nudged up 1lb but he looks on a favourable mark with the winner following up at Newbury, off a rating of 133, and Martatar since chasing home a good prospect in Etalon at the same meeting. He’s a sound jumper and Kempton should play to his strengths. 

Artistic Endeavour has been running well over 2m but his pedigree/style of running suggests he will relish moving up in trip in the finale. 

He was again doing all his best work at the finish when runner-up at Lingfield last time, having previously gone close at Chepstow and been fifth in a good race at Cheltenham. 

Aintree stages a Boxing Day fixture for the first time, with the Grade One William Hill Formby Novices' Hurdle being the feature. 

Underfoot conditions look like being testing and that will suit the French-trained filly, July Flower, who is clearly at home in the mud and has shown a level of ability that looks at least the equal measure of her British counterparts. 

Admittedly, she disappointed at the Grand National meeting on what proved to be her only start for Henry de Bromhead but things didn’t go her way that day and she’s since rejoined the trainer with whom she started her career. The 10/1 offered by bet365 looks chunky. 

12.45 Kempton: General Medrano £5 win at 7/1 with Betfair 

1.05 Aintree: July Flower £2 each-way at 10/1 with bet365 

2.30 Kempton: Shishkin £3 win at 9/2 with William Hill 

3.05 Kempton: Selwan £2.50 each-way at a general 50/1 

3.40 Kempton: Artistic Endeavour £3 win at a general 11/2 

Above five in a 36p each-way Super Yankee plus a £1.94 each-way double on General Medrano and Artistic Endeavour