Horse Racing

This weekend, all eyes will be on the Epsom Derby, Britain's richest Flat horse race, which has been captivating racing enthusiasts since 1780. This year, the Derby serves as the grand finale of a two-day festival at Epsom Downs Racecourse, expected to draw a crowd of approximately 130,000 eager spectators. Steeped in history, the Derby has been an annual tradition for 243 years, although it temporarily found a home in Newmarket during the periods of 1915-18 and 1940-45.

The 2023 Grand National is just around the corner and punters everywhere are gearing-up for what promises to be an enthralling event.

Played at the Aintree Racecourse in Merseyside, the region has a long history with horse racing and the tradition may stretch back as far as the Tudor age.

The first official Grand National took place in 1839 and the event has gone on to become one of Britain’s most celebrated sporting events and its prize pool of over £1 million represents the most out of any jump-race in the world.

Last year’s Grand National was a resounding success and it marked the first iteration of the event since 2019 to not be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Noble Yeats was the winner last year, and the horse is tipped to at least finish strongly in 2023.

The Cheltenham Festival is right around the corner and now seems like the perfect time to delve into its history and prestige. We all know what the Cheltenham History is, yet not many of us know how it grew to become one of the world’s premier horse racing events.

To fully understand this, we need to travel back in time to 1860 - the heart of the Victorian period and the time where our modern sporting culture was in its infancy. The National Hunt Challenge Cup Race, a grade 2 steeplechase, was created and hosted across several different cities initially before finding its home at Cheltenham. By 1911, the Cheltenham Festival had been set in stone, with the National Hunt agreeing to keep it in its current location year-to-year.

It's a big afternoon in the jumps calendar on Saturday as we launch into the month of December proper with the Grade 1 Tingle Creek at Sandown Park the centrepiece. One of the key two-mile chases in Britain's jumps season, the Tingle Creek has been won by some stalwarts of the National Hunt sphere and is a proper test of fast, accurate jumping.They race at Sandown from 12.00pm-3.30pm on Saturday and the Racing Post previews all the action.

Newbury is the place to be for jumps action on Friday and Saturday as the Berkshire circuit hosts their two-day Winter Carnival. The headline act will be the Coral Gold Cup (3.05pm) on Saturday, the most prestigious chasing handicap in the British calendar. They've also got a pair of Grade 2s on Friday's card including the Long Distance Hurdle at 3.05pm. The Racing Post previews two days of fabulous National Hunt action from Newbury.

A major fixture on the jumps calendar, Punchestown hosts their two-day Winter Festival this weekend with some big names of the Irish jumps scene turning out. They race on Saturday (12.30pm-3.55pm) and Sunday (11.45am-3.50pm) with the Grade 1 Morgiana Hurdle on Sunday afternoon the centrepiece. The Racing Post previewsall the action across both days at the Co Kildare venue.