As December and the festive season begins to creep on us, here at bettrends we aren`t just thinking of cracking open our advent calendars or making our Christmas lists; we look forward to one of the great months in the racing calendar across the UK and Ireland. The festive season features some of the very best National Hunt action each and every year, as trainers send out their big guns in search of the top prizes on offer from a litter of Grade 1s to some lucrative handicaps. The bettrends team have made things simple, packaging everything neatly into the Festive Service covering 36 races from 3<sup>rd</sup> December all the way up until New Year`s Day to navigate you through all the action and make sure you have a happy holidays.

The bettrends team are still on a high from such an amazing Newbury Winter Carnival, finding four winners from just nine runners in a fantastic weekend. Datsalrightgino ran a strange race to say the least for our opening selection, nearly becoming detached in the main before finishing like a train at the back of the last to narrowly miss a place, before Everyonesgame ran well for a long time before fading out of contention. We didn`t start well and it looked like it was going to be a long weekend before Paint The Dream (4/1) put in an emphatic performance to get us off the mark with a 14-length demolition victory. Our next selection was Champ (15/8) who battled gamely in a race-of-the-season contender to hold off Paisley Park close home in a finish that had us on the edge of our seats. The winners didn’t just stop there though, as the well-backed Abuffalosolider (12/1) took home the lucky last to make it three straight winners to end the opening day of the Winter Carnival in fine style. A great weight-carrying performance from First Street (7/2) was the undoubted highlight from the second day, and left us with a healthy 11.58pts profit across the service. Both of our standalone services so far this jumps season have returned us nice profit up to now, and we really seem to be finding our groove so long may it continue into the festive season.

Now as we move to our next service, the only things on our Christmas list are winners, and hopefully plenty of them. We begin this weekend, with cards at Aintree, Chepstow, Sandown, and Wetherby so there is no shortage of races to choose from and delve into. The highlight is undoubtedly the Tingle Creek Chase where we could see the return of the mighty Shiskin; can he put that disappointing Cheltenham performance behind him and return to winning ways? We also have another spectacle over the famous national fences in the shape of the Becher Chase, a race that will be covered in our Handicap Breakers Service. The AIS Decemeber Gold Cup follows as another of our exciting Handicap Breakers the next week, as we return to the home of jumps racing for their International Meeting.

Even racing breaks up for Christmas, albeit just for a short rest, but before that we have stellar action from Ascot and Haydock to get stuck into. We found L`Homme Presse (4/1) a decisive winner at Ascot last term as he began his ascent to the very top of the novice chasing division. After we gather with our family and friends to celebrate Christmas Day, we are right back into the action on Boxing Day. There is no shortage of races to choose from, with a whopping seven jumps meetings scheduled to take place across the UK, as well as three across the sea in Ireland. The showcase meeting is no doubt at Kempton though, with three consecutive Grade 1 contests culminating in the King George VI Chase. The Irish contingent currently hold the trophy, but the British are back with a vengeance and a strong battalion led by Charlie Hall winner Bravemansgame to try and wrestle back their prize.

The bettrends team will take you right up until the end of 2022 with our Festive Service, ending with top-class action on New Year`s Day as we try and enter 2023 with a bang. As many will be recovering from the night before on New Year`s Eve, the bettrends team will be searching for those elusive winners on the first day of the year so that you don’t have to! A grand total of 36 races will be covered across this busy period, as well as four Handicap Breakers races, so we have you covered this holiday season.