Grade 1 favourites struggle but Gigginstown prosper over the festive period

Away from the big spring festivals at Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown and the relatively newly-formed behemoth that is the Dublin Racing Festival, the lucrative festive period is a key hub for the jumps season in terms of Grade 1 races.

From December 26 to December 29 there were 13 top-level contests in Britain and Ireland at Leopardstown, Kempton, Limerick, Chepstow and Newbury.

But who were the big winners and losers on these valuable four days? And how much of an impact should it make on the remainder of the campaign?

Dark days for favourites and longshots

Racing Post Novice Chase victor Notebook won at 7-1 on St Stephen's Day but his price was not dwarfed by any of the other 12 Grade 1 winners in the festive period, with big three-mile chase winners Clan Des Obeaux and Delta Work sent off 11-2 apiece.

Longshots were unsuccessful in Grade 1 company but the jollies did not fare much better, with seven of the 11 outright favourites beaten. Three of the seven – Samcro (4-6), Chacun Pour Soi (8-15) and Klassical Dream (10-11) – had odds-on backers feeling anything but festive.

Supporters of Grade 1 favourites or joint-favourites trained by Willie Mullins had a particularly terrible couple of days, with all five of his runners who held the position of market leader defeated.

Gigginstown, Elliott and Kennedy thrive at the top level

Michael O'Leary announced his plans to move away from the sport this year and that seismic change facing racing in Ireland is all the more stark for his highly successful week at Leopardstown.

Gordon Elliott and Jack Kennedy following Delta Work's Savills Chase triumph at LeopardstownCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

O'Leary's all-conquering Gigginstown operation is due to shut down in the coming seasons but won five of the seven Grade 1 races at Leopardstown, with Notebook, Abacadabras, Apple's Jade, Delta Work and Battleoverdoyen all flourishing in the maroon silks.

Gordon Elliott's strong association with Gigginstown earned him four Grade 1 winners despite the notably flat performance of Samcro at Limerick, with Jack Kennedy riding three of those for the powerful owners. Elliott accumulated €329,500 in prize-money from Ireland's Grade 1 events.

Henry de Bromhead started the Gigginstown domination with Notebook but also claimed Grade 1 glory with the Cheveley Park-owned A Plus Tard, who was one of two Grade 1 winners for jockey Rachael Blackmore.

Faugheen was one of two Grade 1 winners for Patrick Mullins in the busy festive periodCredit: Alain Barr

Mullins the trainer may not have done well with Grade 1 favourites but he still won two top-level races, both with his assistant and son Patrick riding. Patrick Mullins had a 100 per cent record in festive Grade 1 races following wins on Faugheen and Sharjah for Rich and Susannah Ricci.

In Britain, the five Grade 1 races were shared between five trainers: Colin Tizzard, Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls, Dan Skelton and Philip Hobbs. However, it was Nicholls who emerged top on Grade 1 prize-money courtesy of his 1-2 in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase with Clan Des Obeaux and Cyrname, as the Ditcheat trainer earned nearly £216,000 from festive Grade 1s.

Last run a handy guide and headgear prospers

Ten of the 13 Grade 1 winners had finished first or second on their previous start, and all of the novice and juvenile winners, apart from Abacadabras, entered Christmas week on the back of a win.

None of the winners had been overraced in the first half of the season, with Abacadabras and Slate House having three runs before Christmas. It appears a particularly hard time to make a seasonal reappearance at the peak of the sport, with all 13 winners having had at least one run this season.

Interestingly, seven of the top-level scorers wore headgear, although the first-time cheekpieces sported by Apple's Jade was the only example of new aids being applied.

Clan Des Obeaux's 21-length winning margin in the King George was the most decisive Grade 1 success, with Apple's Jade (17 lengths), Faugheen (ten) and Allmankind (nine) also comfortably defeating to their opposition. In contrast, Delta Work's late heroics under Kennedy had the most thrilling finish with the six-year-old getting the better of Monalee by a head.

How will the Christmas winners do later in the season?

Racing fans and punters will now try to decipher which of the Christmas Grade 1s will work out as strong form for the remainder of the season.

Of the 61 festive Grade 1s contested between 2014 and 2018 (Limerick's Grade 1 was a Grade 2 until last year's renewal), 37.7 per cent of the winners managed to land another Grade 1 later that season.

Four of the last five winners of the Racing Post Novice Chase won at least one more Grade 1 in the remaining months of the season, which arguably bodes well for Notebook's impressive win. The anomaly was Min, who did not run again as a novice.

Thyme Hill: will have to defy the poor record of Challow Hurdle winners at the Cheltenham FestivalCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Kempton's Christmas Hurdle was equally as informative for later Grade 1 races, while three of the last five King George winners were successful at Aintree in the Bowl.

Abacadabras shot to head of the market for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle after his speed-laden win in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle, but none of the last five winners at Leopardstown have been successful again as a novice hurdler in top-level company.

Kemboy is the only winner of the Savills Chase in the last five years to subsequently win a Grade 1 in the spring.

The poor record of Challow Hurdle winners at the Cheltenham Festival is well known but Champ came close to breaking that sequence last season when second to City Island in the Ballymore. The last Challow Hurdle scorer to strike at the Cheltenham Festival the following March was Wichita Lineman, who won at Newbury in 2006.

The unbeaten Thyme Hill will be hoping to defy that statistic, although whether he goes for the Albert Bartlett or the Ballymore is yet to be decided.

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