Straw Bear wins Christmas Hurdle at Kempton
Straw Bear (9-2) bounced back to his best to deny Harchibald a second win in the Stan James Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
Nick Gifford’s six-year-old looked cooked over the second-last as Harchibald and Paul Carberry loomed up large.
But despite going half a length up, Harchibald’s stride began to shorten as McCoy galvanised his mount after the last to get up by a head.
The winner was given a 10-1 quote by VC Bet from 20’s for the Champion Hurdle in March with Harchibald unchanged at 6-1.
