THE Welsh Grand National has moved from its traditional December 27th date to the following day, as part of a reshuffle to maximise the effectiveness of Britain’s Christmas racing schedule.

Kempton’s King George VI Chase remains the centrepiece on December 26th, and there is also a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Aintree on that day.

But the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on the same Kempton card has been moved to December 27th, a meeting which previously only had a Grade 2 two-mile chase as its feature.

The Challow Hurdle at Newbury is the big race in Britain on December 29th.

The Welsh National switch might also be appreciated by Irish racing fans who may have been frustrated that the Paddy Power Handicap Chase at Leopardstown was due off 10 minutes after the Welsh National’s scheduled off-time.

The changes are the result of cross-industry collaboration initiated by Entain (owner of Ladbrokes and Coral), and brokered by Racecourse Media Group (RMG), with the support of Kempton Park (Jockey Club), Chepstow (Arena Racing Company) and Newbury racecourse, the British Horseracing Authority and ITV Racing.