Kempton Tips

Best known for National Hunt racing, most notably the King George VI Chase run in December, Kempton Park is one of racing’s more diverse and busy tracks due to it also holding 16 all-weather flat meetings throughout the year. Located just 16 miles from London, Kempton Park is in the leafy and affluent town of Sunbury-on-Thames, steeped in quintessential English charm. Kempton makes up around 232 acres of grass and woodland with two lakes in its center and was first used for racing in 1878.

As well as the main track, there is an all-weather course with floodlights that allow for evening meetings in bad weather and at darker times of the year. The synthetic flat track opened in 2006 and controversially replaced the much beloved Jubilee Course. The Feltham Novices’ Chase takes place on the same day as the King George as part of their Christmas schedule, while the following sees the running of the Desert Orchid Chase, a grade 2 race. At the end of February, Kempton hosts the BetBright Chase while the Sirenia Stakes goes in early September.

Kempton Race Course History

The racecourse came to be after a 19th-century businessman discovered the land of Kempton Manor and Park for sale while he was out enjoying a carriage drive in the countryside. He duly leased the grounds in 1872 and six years later Kempton opened as a racecourse although its first ever race wasn’t held until the 18th July 1878.

The course played an important role in both world wars as, in World War 1, it was used as a transit depot for military vehicles until 1919 when racing resumed at Kempton. Racing didn’t stop at this time, however, but merely relocated to nearby Sandown or an old course at Gatwick where the airport stands today. During the Second World War, Kempton Park was again closed for racing and this time used as a prisoner-of-war camp due to it having a train station on the grounds which allowed for German and Italian soldiers to be transferred in easily. This station is still a feature of the course and today the public can get to Kempton directly from London Waterloo in less than 45 minutes.

Kempton Track Configuration and Bias

• The national hunt course is a right-handed triangular circuit of one mile and 5f
• On the oval course, there is a slight bias towards high drawn numbers
• The oval all-weather track is the only right-handed all-weather course in the UK and is either 8 or 10 furlongs depending upon the bend

Kempton is flat and oval shaped with two loops. In order to accommodate flat racing throughout the year, it switched to an all-weather Polytrack track in 2006. The national hunt course is a right-handed triangular run of one mile and 5f. Patience usually pays dividends at Kempton, and an inside draw is a big advantage on the round course as there’s a tendency for jockeys to ride hard quite a long way from home.

The inner circuit is used for races over 5f, 9f and 10f is sharp with a finishing straight that is just under 2f. Sprinters are preferred, especially over the shortest distances. The outer course’s turns are more sweeping, and it has a straight of almost 3f. On the oval course, races of 8f have a slight bias towards high drawn numbers.

Kempton Racing Season

The closest racecourse to central London, Kempton Park is home to the Christmas jumping showpiece, the King George VI Chase, which is run on Boxing Day—what the British call December 26—and is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase open to horses aged four years and up. The race was first run in February 1937 and goes over a distance of three miles. It is the second-most important steeplechase in England and features on the same card as the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle and Feltham Novices’ Chase, which goes a day later.

As well as hosting 16 flat racing fixtures on a Polytrack synthetic surface, the most significant races at Kempton are over the jumps and include January’s Lanzarote Hurdle and, a month later, the three-mile BetBright Chase that has, in the past, been won by the legendary Desert Orchid and Rough Quest. Today, all of Kempton’s historic flat races that were once ridden over the Jubilee Course have been transferred to the all-weather including the Easter Stakes, Magnolia Stakes, and Rosebery Handicap.

Kempton Race Course Address 

Kempton Park Racecourse, Staines Road,
East Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, TW16 5AQ, United Kingdom
https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/kempton/

Kempton Best Jockeys and Trainers

Billed as London’s premier racecourse, Kempton Park has played host to many of the leading equine stars over the years. Names such as Kauto Star and Long Run are two of the more recent icons to have won here, as are legends of the track like Desert Orchid, affectionately known as “Dessie,” who is buried here.

Today’s trainers, wishing to add their charges to the list, work tirelessly all year round to bring the horses to Kempton, but some fare better than others. 

Jockeys work their whole lives for the chance to ride at Kempton, one of England’s most prestigious tracks. A win here can represent the highlight of many riders’ careers like 20 times Champion Jockey, Ireland’s AP McCoy who won the King George Chase here in 2002 aboard Best Mate. Not all jockeys will be remembered as fondly as AP, but those looking to emulate even a fraction of what he achieved would do well to bank a winner at Kempton Park.