Kempton's two-day King George meeting kicked off on decent ground on Boxing Day, officially good, good to soft in places.
Two Grade 2 contests over fences form the feature races as the meeting concludes on Christmas Friday.
The latest horse racing betting tips for Friday's meeting at Kempton from Racing Post tipster Dave Randall.
13:55 Kempton – Sir Gino @ 11/10
14:30 Kempton – Martator @ 11/4
15:08 Kempton – Highstakesplayer @ 7/1
13:55 Kempton – Sir Gino @ 11/10
Four runners are set to go post for the Grade 2 2m Wayward Lad Novices' Chase (1.55), and they have amassed 25 victories under rules between them.
Paul Nicholls is 3-8 in this race since 2014 and he relies on Rubaud, an 149-rated hurdler who is making his chasing debut. The gelding clearly warrants plenty of respect as he is 8-15 over this distance, 7-9 on good ground, 3-6 on this course and Harry Cobden is 8-13 when riding the six-year-old.
Anthony Honeyball's representative Brookie is rated 130 over hurdles and fences. Even the best of his chasing form in winning one of his five starts over larger obstacles shouldn't be good enough to trouble the likes of Rubaud, let alone the perceived "big-two" in this contest on these unfavourable terms.
The clear front of the market is torn between Sir Gino and Ballyburn, representing the power houses of British and Irish jump racing, Nicky Henderson and Willie Mullins.
Ballyburn is rated 162 over hurdles which illustrates what a task even a horse as able as Rubaud faces here off level weights. He is an Irish point winner who won three times from 2m to 2m5f in Grade 1 novice hurdles at the beginning of the year, and the six-year-old son of Flemensfirth made a smooth transition to chasing under rules when running out an impressive winner over 2m3f on soft ground at Punchestown last month.
The drop back in trip to 2m on good ground is the only potential negative that can be thrown at Ballyburn's claims, and any case preferring Sir Gino in this fascinating clash has to be built with that in mind.
Henderson won this race through Altior and Shishkin in 2016 and 2020, and his latest representative Sir Gino went 5-5 over hurdles when winning Newcastle's 2m Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle impressively by eight lengths last month.
That success in a leading Champion Hurdle trial, on good ground, achieved an official rating of 157, and it is a massive statement of intent on Henderson's part that an immediate switch to chasing has followed that victory.
The four-year-old will receive 6lb in weight-for-age from Ballyburn to aid his claims.
He is 4-4 over this distance, 3-3 with Nico De Boinville in the saddle and was impressive when winning on his only start on this course on this card last year.
14:30 Kempton – Martator @ 11/4
Eight runners are set to go to post for the Grade 2 2m Desert Orchid Limited Handicap Chase (2.30), and, with horses of the calibre of Edwardstone and Boothill racing off 163 and 160 at the head of the handicap, the bottom half of the field are racing from between 1lb and 4lb out of the handicap proper.
Editeur Du Gite will be racing off his correct mark of 150 but form figures of P9P since May are hardly encouraging.
Edwardstone and Boothill are likely to be right in the mix at the business end but they are hard to separate on these terms. For what it is worth, slight preference is for the year younger nine-year-old Boothill.
The selection Martator is a rapidly improving seven-year-old representing the formidable trainer and jockey combination of Venetia Williams and Charlie Deutsch.
The Martaline gelding has won his last five races, initially off 118 at Newbury in March, and latterly by 11 lengths off 140 at Ascot last month.
He was awarded a Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 157 for that latest rout which suggests a new mark of 151 will not prove beyond him. The well-beaten Ascot second Kotmask franked the form by winning back at Ascot last Saturday.
15:08 Kempton – Highstakesplayer @ 7/1
Finally, Tom Lacey's representative Highstakesplayer is a course-and-distance winner considered capable of returning to winning ways in the Class 3 11-runner 3m handicap chase (3.08).
The selection wasn't at his best at Newbury recently but his 1-7 record racing left-handed compares unfavourably to his 5-10 record racing this way around, including two victories off up to 5lb lower than his current mark of 135 over this track and trip.
He got within three lengths of Chianti Classico when second at Ascot in November, over this 3m trip on good ground off Friday's mark, and a reproduction of that excellent effort may suffice.
On Day 7 of our Festive 12 campaign, bet365 is offering new and eligible customers a Money Back in Free Bets offer on Race 4 (2.30) at Kempton, the Desert Orchid Handicap Chase, on the 27th December.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.