What To Look Forward To As The Jumps Season Heats Up

Features | 30^th October 2024

The National Hunt season is starting to hit top gear and there is so much exciting action to look forward to over the coming months

From Ascot to Aintree, Wincanton to Wetherby, and all tracks in between, there’s so many Premier Racing fixtures to look forward to throughout the duration of the National Hunt Racing Season.

Here’s a look ahead at what’s to come over the coming months.

Cheltenham

The November Meeting, Friday 15 November - Sunday 17 November

The focus is on the home of Jumps racing when it stages its popular three-day fixture.

Billed as ‘where the magic begins’, the Paddy Power Gold Cup is the feature contest staged on the Saturday. It is one of the most competitive handicaps of the season and always attracts a quality field.

The meeting starts with Countryside Day on Friday and ends with a Sunday packed full of family fun alongside the racing. The Unibet Greatwood Hurdle is the day’s big race.

Newbury

Coral Gold Cup Weekend, Friday 28 November and Saturday 29 November

Newbury’s big pre-Christmas meeting features one of the most prestigious handicap chases of the season.

The Coral Gold Cup has been won by no less than nine Cheltenham Gold Cup winners. The likes of Denman, Bobs Worth, and Native River all added their names to the roll of honour in recent years, a true example of Premier Racing.

The Grade 2 Coral Long Distance Hurdle is the feature race of the fixture’s opening day. Dashel Drasher held off Paisley Park in one of the most thrilling finishes of the season 12 months ago.

Kempton

Ladbrokes Christmas Festival, Thursday 26 December and Friday 27 December

There’s no better way to continue the Christmas celebrations with Kempton’s two-day Festival.

The Grade 1 King George VI Chase is one of the season’s most significant races. It has been won by some of the greats of the sport – including five-time winner Kauto Star – and takes place in its traditional Boxing Day slot.

The following day the Grade 2 Desert Orchid Chase – commemorating one of the best-loved multiple King George winners – is the feature race.

Chepstow

Coral Welsh Grand National Day, Friday 27 December

The top-class festive period and Premier Racing continues with the eagerly anticipated Welsh Grand National from Chepstow.

Names that transcend the sport feature prominently in the rich history of the valuable contest, each of Burrough Hill Lad, Run and Skip, Silver Birch and most recently, Native River have prevailed in the Chepstow showpiece.

One of the greatest tests in racing, Coral Welsh Grand National Day is not to be missed.

Ascot & Royal Windsor

Berkshire Winter Million, Friday 17 January - Sunday 19 January

Jumps racing returns to Royal Windsor in January for the Berkshire Winter Million, with an excellent line-up assured to take to the stage on both Friday and Sunday.

Ascot’s Saturday card will feature the Clarence House Chase, which has seen some of the sport’s brightest stars light up a cold January afternoon in years past, the likes of Desert Orchid, Sprinter Sacre and more recently, Shishkin adding themselves to an illustrious roll of honour.

Newbury

Super Saturday, Saturday 8 February

Britain’s most significant Cheltenham Festival trials takes place on Super Saturday.

The Denman Chase and the Game Spirit Chase – both Grade 2 races – are prestigious rcheaces in their own right but they also give the chance for Cheltenham hopefuls to push their Festival claims.

Those contests are just the supporting acts to the Betfair Hurdle. Britain’s most valuable handicap hurdle is one of the most competitive races of its type in the calendar.

It all makes for a day that very much lives up to its name.

Cheltenham

The Festival, Tuesday 11 March - Friday 14 March

There is no doubt as to what is the most important four days in jump racing.

The Cheltenham Festival attracts hundreds of thousands of racing fans to the Cotswolds to watch the cream of the jumps horses take each other on in the sport’s most prestigious races, the very finest that Premier Racing has to offer.

The Unibet Champion Hurdle is the opening day’s feature, with the Queen Mother Champion Chase taking centre stage on ‘Style Wednesday’.

The Ryanair Chase and the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle share top billing on St Patrick’s Thursday before the world-famous Cheltenham Gold helps the Festival to a glorious climax.

This year, Willie Mullins’ Irish raider Galopin Des Champs is likely to attempt to become only the fourth horse to win three Gold Cups.

It is simply four unmissable days of the very best jumping racing has to offer.

Aintree

Randox Grand National Festival, Thursday 3 April - Saturday 5 April

The world’s most famous race – the Randox Grand National – captivates millions of people from all corners of the globe every year.

Some of the top chasers will battle it out around the iconic course on the final day of the three-day festival.

It is one of the biggest social events of the year in Liverpool and it attracts huge crowds to the unique racecourse.

The previous two days are also packed with top-quality jumps action with no less than a dozen Grade 1 contests during the meeting.

Ayr

Coral Scottish Grand National Meeting, Friday 11 April and Saturday 12 April

Attention turns to Ayr in April for the Scottish Grand National, a race that is steeped in history having been run in the county for almost 175 years.

Some of the very best staying chasers from both sides of the North Sea will make the trip to the Ayrshire venue with their eyes very much on the £500,000 total prize money on offer.

Earlier this year, the meeting was pivotal in shaping the conclusion of the Trainers Championship, with Willie Mullins overhauling Dan Skelton at the top of the table, winning the famous feature race with Macdermott.