2025 King George VI Chase - Ante Post betting tips and insight

In the latest of our Ante Post Analysis columns here at Odds Now, Adam Smith from Races Now turns his attention to the headline act of Boxing Day's feast of racing – the 2025 King George VI Chase at Kempton.

2025 King George VI Chase ante post analysis

Horse racing takes place in the UK 362 days a year with the three-day baron run coming on consecutive days between 23rd and 25th December, before returning with a Boxing Day bang with just the eight meetings on December 26th.

The festive highlight undoubtedly is the King George VI Chase at Kempton – a race that surely sits third only behind the Gold Cup and Grand National in the minds of National Hunt fans.

An ongoing theme of this article will be the Irish contenders and which of them may or may not turn up. The Grade 1 Savills Chase over an almost identical distance takes place at Leopardstown just two days later. Who needs a pattern in National Hunt racing, eh?

Back to Kempton, Irish horses have won three of the last four and it’s eight years since a betting favourite triumphed. In the interim, we’ve had 28/1 and 20/1 winners.

Recent struggles for last year's stars

As usual with top level chase races, last year’s renewal is always a good starting point with these horses who often return year after year.

Banbridge won a thrilling 2024 edition by hunting down the swashbuckling Il Est Francais. Both have been pretty rubbish since, though. Banbridge has actually only beaten a total of three rivals in three subsequent runs – 7th of 9, 4th of 4 and 4th of 5.

That’s why last year's front two are 16/1 and 20/1 at the time of writing Although they’ve both been poor of late, you wouldn’t want to write either off. Particularly if Banbridge gets his preferred quicker ground like he did last year.

Mullins holing the aces again

Willie Mullins pair Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File are the two best horses entered in the King George at the moment. They were separated by only a neck in the favour of Gaelic Warrior in the John Durkan a few weeks ago.

But the market certainly suggests it’s the Warrior (7/4) that is heading to Kempton and Fact To File (10/1) heading to Leopardstown, as he did last Christmas. Gaelic Warrior has ran and won over this type of trip but you could definitely argue his very best form is over shorter.

That is picking holes in a rock solid favourite, however. You'd be hard pressed to argue he doesn't deserve to sit at the top of this market.

Back the Brits?

The British challenge looks pretty strong at this stage.

Nicky Henderson’s Jango Baie performed miracles to win the Arkle which was clearly an inadequate trip. He then ran with a lot of credit in the two-and-a-half mile Manifesto Chase at Aintree, before waltzing up in an open company Grade Two at Ascot last month. The King George is obviously the next logical step for this six year old who is clearly on the up.

The Jukebox Man is a year older than Jango Baie and arguably less exposed, due to missing 11 months through injury earlier this year.

Lest we forget, he won the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton last Christmas when odds on and was well fancied for Cheltenham Festival glory thereafter, before injury halted that project.

Owned by Harry Redknapp, he blew the cobwebs off a 331-day break by making every yard in the Graduation Chase at Haydock. The form of that race has a question mark hanging over it, although improvement is surely expected on his next start given the long break.

Then you have Djelo, who has had double the amount of runs of Jango and Jukebox but is still only seven – and this season, has taken his form to new levels when winning the Charlie Hall and Peterborough (both Grade Twos).

Djelo marked himself as a potential Grade One performer when winning the Denman Chase in February but failed to build on that in the Ryanair (65 lengths behind Fact To File) and Aintree Bowl (37 lengths behind Gaelic Warrior), looking like another of those decent British chasers that couldn’t get near the Irish top boys.

That might still be the case. But it’s hard to argue with what he has done so far this season.

Then we are into the realms of mainly Irish horses that may or may not turn up. Heart Wood, Firefox, Grangeclare West and Croke Park are good horses on their day but would definitely be in upset territory of they were to win here.

Ban the man?

Right now, I'm finding Banbridge the most interesting entrant from a price perspective.

Maybe he just loves Kempton (two from two)? Maybe his seasonal reappearance was just a trot round to ready for this? Maybe the rain will stay away between now and Boxing Day.?

There’s a few too many maybes there though and he does have three different Christmas period entries as we speak.

Could I be tempted in by 16/1 for last years winner? Possibly. Would I be particularly confident? Not really.