Christmas Racing Review: Stunning Sir Gino. Lossiemouth Dilemma. Gold Cup Shakeup. Terrific Teahupoo

The Final Furlong Podcast

News, Sports News, Leisure, Hobbies, Sports

4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2026

⏱️ 113 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Christmas racing is done. Now it’s time to work out what actually matters. On this week’s Final Furlong Podcast, Emmet Kennedy, Adam Mills, George Gorman, and Jamie Wrenn review the key races, performances, and Cheltenham implications from a fascinating festive period packed with Grade 1s, shocks, and strong opinions. 🟥 KING GEORGE VI CHASE (GRADE 1) — A NEW FORCE? The Jukebox Man struck the right note at Kempton, landing the King George for Ben Pauling. The panel ask: What does this mean for his season from here? How strong was the form with Gaelic Warrior, Banbridge, and Jango Baie close behind? Has the chasing hierarchy shifted? 🟦 SAVILLS CHASE (GRADE 1) — TWO STORIES, ONE RACE Affordale Fury won on just his seventh chase start, but the bigger talking points lie elsewhere. We assess: The contrasting runs of Galopin Des Champs and Inothewayurthinkin Whether either performance truly dents Gold Cup confidence Two horses to follow for the Grand National 🟩 WELSH GRAND NATIONAL — A GOLD CUP PLAYER? A remarkable weight-carrying performance from Haiti Couleurs for Rebecca Curtis. The question: Is he now a serious Gold Cup contender under Sean Bowen, or was this a perfect-storm handicap win? 🟨 HEART WOOD — FOUND HIS LEVEL? Heart Wood landed the O’Driscoll’s Irish Whiskey New Year’s Day Chase (G3). One of the team makes a big-price case for him in a specific Cheltenham race — others push back hard. 🟥 CHRISTMAS HURDLE (GRADE 1) — IS THE CHAMPION HURDLE UP FOR GRABS? Sir Gino, returning from a life-threatening infection, comfortably beat the race-fit Golden Ace, the reigning Champion Hurdle winner. We debate: Was this a changing-of-the-guard moment? Or have we underestimated the depth of the division? 🟦 DECEMBER HURDLE (GRADE 1) — LOSS IEMOUTH’S PATH DECIDED? After Lossiemouth’s Leopardstown win, all four panellists agree she is unlikely to run in the Champion Hurdle — and explain exactly why. Do you agree? 🟩 MARES’ DIVISION — A NEW QUEEN? Could Wodhooh now be the one to beat in the Mares’ Hurdle after her Kerrymount success? 🟨 CHRISTMAS HURDLE (IRELAND) — STAYING HIERARCHY SETTLED? Teahupoo confirmed his superiority over Ballyburn, but three of the panel believe his biggest Cheltenham danger is trained in Britain. We make a strong case for Impose Toi. 🟥 CHAMPION CHASE PICTURE — MORE OPEN THAN IT LOOKS? We finish with the two-mile chase division: Solness impresses in the Rewards Club Chase Marine Nationale runs a blinder despite early drama Thistle Ask makes a big handicap statement in the Desert Orchid Where does the Champion Chase really stand now? 🔵 PRESENTED BY 1xBet.ie More than 7,000 events per day, fast withdrawals, and new customer specials. 👉 https://cutt.ly/0r7bzDoH 18+. T&Cs apply. Gamble responsibly. 1xBet knows the craic. Bet with your head, not above it. 🔔 Subscribe on YouTube for reviews, previews & Cheltenham insight🎧 Follow on Spotify, Apple & Podbean so you never miss an episode💬 Comment: Is the Champion Hurdle now wide open?👍 Like & share to support the show ⚡ Proven Form: Winners tipped recently at 20/1, 16/1, 14/1, 12/1, and 10/1.🎯 Smart betting meets sharp analysis — only on The Final Furlong Podcast. 💬 Comment below 👍 Likes appreciated. 1xBet social media pages: Х: https://x.com/1xbet_ireland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1xbet.ie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1xbet.ie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1xbet-ireland/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1xBet_Ireland Form Tools: Proform is the essential tool for punters looking to make money from betting on Horse Racing. Our form book covers Jumps and Flat racing in the UK and Ireland. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.proformracing.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: @FinalFurlongPod Email: radioemmet@gmail.com In association with Adelicious Podcast Network. Hosted on Megaphone. Follow us for free on Spotify Podcasts https://open.spotify.com/show/3e6NnBkr7MBstVx5U7lpld Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Craig's never shown an interest in beekeeping before, but that's the sound of him buying
0:04.9	2,000 worker bees rather than doing his self-assessment. Craig, you live in a sixth floor flat.
0:10.7	The deadline is 31st of January. Less distraction, more action. Don't be like Craig. Visit
0:15.9	gov.com.org slash self-assessment today. Payment support may be available.
0:20.2	Why do growing businesses love working in Slack? Let's ask Christia Ari Bikes. Running things on Slack saves me so much time. AI summaries save 97 minutes per week. What say you? Rocks from Gosney. Slack helps us build community. It helps us build connection. Your partners, vendors and customers all in one
0:37.8	place. Take us on home, Ashley from Carraway. If we did have Slack tomorrow, I would explode.
0:43.5	Well, let's not let that happen. Visit Slack.com slash podcast to get 50% of Slack Business Plus.
0:50.6	Welcome to a world of infinite worlds, a world of adventure, possibility and happily ever afters.
0:57.8	It's all waiting for you at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
1:01.5	Book selected 2026 packages by the 31st of March and get up to 25% off, 14-day tickets and Disney hotels.
1:09.9	Offer available in most school holidays, including summer.
1:13.0	Book now at Disneypackages.co.uk.
1:16.1	Selected 2026 arrivals in Disney Resorts, conditions and exclusions apply.
1:21.0	Never miss an episode of the Final Furlong podcast.
1:24.3	Subscribe now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And now,
1:30.4	here's your host, Emmett Kennedy. You're very welcome to our first show of the new year. Welcome to
1:35.5	2026 in the Final Front of podcast. We've got Adam Mills from Total Performance Data alongside us,
1:39.4	The Voice of Irish Racing, Jamie Wren, and the voice of British racing, for that matter.
1:42.8	George Gorman to break down all the big great ones. Beginning with the jukebox man, who won his fourth chase starts, sets a new course record. Well, it's the fastest King George in the last 20 running since the track was redeveloped, but he jumped like an old pro, and considering he was only his fourth start-up offenses, it was pretty damn impressive. Harry Rednop in tears afterwards and rightly so. I was in tears
2:01.4	with Kelly Warrior being beaten in the race, Adam Mills, and I think if the race was run again, he might very well have come out on top. But this was something we'd said over and over again. You could run this race 10 times and get 10 different results and he easily could have got four different results. Yeah, he could have got four different results. I think there's a few jockeys who might afterwards look back and think, oh, if I've just gone a bit sooner, if I'd just come into a bit earlier.
2:20.1	But I think the problem with few jockeys who might afterwards look back and think, oh, if I've just gone
2:17.7	a bit sooner, if I'd just come into a bit earlier. But I think the problem with the race was everyone sort of believed Harry Cobden. And Harry Cobden was saying, oh, I'm really glad to pick it up. And we're going to control the pace. And everyone believed that Ile Fronte was going to be the same horse than he was 12 months ago. Not everyone.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Final Furlong Podcast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Final Furlong Podcast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.