'The Festive Four' - New four-day Christmas racing programme unveiled

Simon Clare of Entain, owner of Festive Four sponsors Ladbrokes and Coral, said: “Racing over Christmas is already one of the most important periods of the jump racing season, with some of our greatest heritage races taking place at a time when racing and sports fans love attending the races or settling down to enjoy the action on ITV. 

The Festive Four makes this special period even better. By spreading these great fixtures across four consecutive days, we're giving fans more of what they love, with a major racing occasion to look forward to every day. It's a fantastic four-day package of top-class jump racing and a great opportunity to showcase our sport to a wider audience over Christmas.

Simon Durrant, General Manager at Kempton Park, said: “The Ladbrokes Christmas Festival, on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th December, is one of the highlights of the jump racing calendar, and we’re delighted that the fixture will play an important part in this exciting new initiative.  

The Festive Four builds on the incredible heritage of our Christmas meetings, helping to promote the sport through an important and busy period of action, creating four days of racing for fans to enjoy. We look forward to welcoming racegoers to Kempton Park over the festive period and being part of a fantastic celebration of jump racing.

Luke Admans, Chepstow Racecourse Executive Director, said: "The Coral Welsh Grand National is the jewel in the crown of Welsh racing, so we are delighted to have worked with the team at Entain, as well as colleagues at Kempton Park, Newbury and our broadcast partners to make sure that it gets such a prominent position within the Festive Four and the Christmas racing schedule more widely." 

Shaun Hinds, Chief Executive of Newbury Racecourse said: "We’re delighted the Coral Challow Hurdle Day will form the culmination of this fantastic addition to the racing calendar; it’s a raceday that has been getting bigger and bigger over the last few years, and the creation of The Festive Four only adds to the anticipation for this year’s edition.  

It’s fantastic to see racing and its stakeholders working together to create something special at such an important time of year for the sport and we’re proud to be involved alongside Chepstow and Kempton, and our long-time partners, Entain.

Leading Jump Racing Professionals give their thoughts on the Festive Four 

Dan Skelton, Champion Jump Trainer, said: “It feels like we’ve needed to get our house in order with the festive racing programme in the UK, and creating a festival like this is a really positive step. Fans and professionals alike can now plan their festive racing, and I can’t wait. Hopefully, the fans will enjoy it as much as we will. 

It’s a very sensible move for the whole industry, so thank you to the sponsors and everyone involved in making this happen.

Sean Bowen, winner of the 2026 Coral Welsh Grand National, said: “The Christmas fixtures are some of the most important and exciting of the whole year, and winning the Coral Welsh National last season was one of the highlights of my career so far.  It’s great that the Chepstow card is now part of the Festive Four and will take centre stage on 28th December, ensuring it remains the biggest sporting event in Wales over the Christmas holidays.” 

Ben Jones, winner of the 2025 Ladbrokes King George VI Chase, said: "Winning the King George was one of the biggest moments of my career, so this has always been a special time of year for me. Now, with the Festive Four, there’s even more to look forward to and hopefully we can be right in the thick of the action across all four days, including the Coral Welsh National.” 

Joe Tizzard, leading jump trainer: "As a family and a team we've enjoyed some of our biggest winners over the Christmas period, including victories in both the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase and the Coral Welsh Grand National, so I very much welcome the changes to the schedule that means we will no longer have to choose between being at Kempton or Chepstow on the 27th, while the fixed date for Newbury's Coral Challow Hurdle meeting means racing fans really do have a Festive Four days to look forward to." 

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