November 2025

York Ebor Festival

admin November 7, 2025

The York Ebor Festival is a four-day meeting staged Wednesday – Saturday at York Racecourse in York, North Yorkshire in August. The meeting takes its name from that of the Ebor Handicap, a prestigious ‘Heritage Handicap’ run over a mile and three-quarters and currently worth £500,000 in total prize money, which is the feature race on the fourth and final day. The race, in turn, takes its name from ‘Eboracum’ the Roman name for the settlement that became the present-day city of York.

A prestigious and valuable Group 1 race forms the highlight of each of the first three days of the York Ebor Festival. On the opening Wednesday, the Juddmonte International Stakes is run over a mile and a quarter, open to horses aged three years and upwards and currently worth £1.32 million in total prize money; its recent roll of honour includes two of the top 10 horses since World War II, according to Timeform, Sea The Stars (2009) and Frankel (2012).

The Yorkshire Oaks, run over a mile and a half, open to fillies and mares aged three years and upwards and currently worth £600,000 in total prize money, takes centre stage on day two. The 2025 winner, Minnie Hauk, trained by Aidan O’Brien, supplemented her previous victories in the Oaks and Irish Oaks and subsequently finished second, beaten just a head in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, for which she started favourite.

On the Friday, the out-and-out speedsters enjoy the limelight in the Nunthorpe Stakes, which has been won down the years by the likes of Abernant, Sharpo, Habibti, Dayjur and Battaash, to name but a handful of illustrious winners. Run over a perfectly flat five furlongs and open to horses aged two years and upwards – the last two-year-old to win was, in fact, Kingsgate Native in 2007 – the Nunthorpe Stakes is currently worth £697,000 in total prize money.

Epsom Derby Festival

admin November 7, 2025

As the name suggests, the Epsom Derby Festival is a two-day meeting staged at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey, South East England on the first weekend in June, which revolves around the fourth Classic of the season – and, arguably, the greatest Flat race in the world – the Derby. Run over an undulating mile and a half, the Derby demands an extraordinary blend of speed, stamina and balance and, since it was first run in 1780, has become the yardstick by which horses – in recent years, specifically, colts – of the three-year-old, ‘Classic’ generation are measured.

The Derby – which, in 2026, will be run in honour of His Highness Aga Khan IV, who died in February 2025 – takes centre stage on the second day, unsurprisingly known as ‘Derby Day’, but is preceded by two more prestigious and valuable Group 1 races on the first day, known as ‘Ladies Day’. The first of them, the Coronation Cup, is run over the same course and distance as the Derby, but is open to horses aged four years and upwards and, hence, often features horses that contested the Epsom Classics the previous year. The second of them, the Oaks, is the feature race of the day, again run over a mile and a half, but restricted to three-year-old fillies.

The Derby, Oaks and Coronation Cup aside, other notable races staged during the weekend include the Princess Elizabeth Stakes and the Diomed Stakes, both Group 3 contests run over an extended mile and open to horses aged three years and upwards, but with the former restricted to fillies and mares, and the ‘Dash’ Handicap Stakes. The latter is a Heritage Handicap, worth over £50,000 to the winner, and run over the fastest five-furlong course in the world, so is an out-and-out test of speed.

Cheltenham Festival

admin November 7, 2025

The Cheltenham Festival is, unequivocally, the highlight of the British National Hunt season. Staged in mid-March, since 2005, the Cheltenham Festival has consisted of four days of top-class action, featuring the crème de la crème in every discipline of the sport. Nowadays, each day of the Festival consists of seven races, making 28 in all, of which 13 are contested at the highest, Grade 1 level.

Each of the four days – known, for promotional purposes, as ‘Champion Day’, ‘Ladies Day’, ‘St. Patrick’s Thursday’ and ‘Gold Cup Day’ – has as its highlight one of the four feature races, namely the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Ryanair Chase and Cheltenham Gold Cup. Traditionally, the long-distance hurdling championship, the Stayers’ Hurdle, was the feature race in St. Patrick’s Thursday, but in recent years has been superceded, in terms of prestige and value, by the intermediate-distance chasing championship, the Ryanair Chase, which was promoted to Grade 1 status in 2008.

The highlight of the week – and, arguably, of the entire National Hunt season – is the ‘Blue Riband’ event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, on the fourth and final day. Run over an extended three and a quarter miles, and 22 fences, on the New Course at Cheltenham, the Cheltenham Gold Cup has a long, illustrious history, dating back to 1924. Its roll of honour includes such legendary names as Golden Miller, Arkle, Desert Orchid, Best Mate and Kauto Star.

The Grade 1 contests aside, the Cheltenham Festival programme also includes a series of famously competitive handicap races, of which there are currently 12, with at least two run on each of the four days. Nowadays, they once again include the Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase, the only race of week to be run on the idiosyncratic cross-country course, which reverted to a handicap in 2025, having been a conditions race since 2016.

Aintree Grand National Festival

admin November 7, 2025

As the name suggests, the Aintree Grand National Festival is a three-day meeting staged at Aintree Racecourse, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, on the second Thursday, Friday and Saturday in April. The meeting consists of ‘Grand Opening Day’, ‘Ladies Day’ and ‘Grand National Day’, with arguably the most famous horse race in the world, the Grand National, currently scheduled as the fifth of seven races on the Saturday.

The Grand National has undergone drastic changes in recent years, but remains the longest National Hunt race in Britain, run over a distance of 4 miles, 2 furlongs and 74 yards, and features a maximum of 34 runners, that number having been reduced from 40 from 2024 onwards, as part of measures designed to improve safety. Likewise, the Grand National remains a hugely popular event, watched annually by an estimated 800 million television viewers worldwide.With a roll of honour that includes iconic names such as Golden Miller, Manifesto, Red Rum and, more recently, Tiger Roll, the Grand National requires little further introduction.

Of course, the Aintree Grand National Festival is not just about the Grand National itself, with seven top-quality races on each of the three days, including 10 at the highest, Grade 1 level. Indeed, the meeting starts with four Grade 1 races in a row, the Manifesto Novices’ Chase, 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle, Aintree Bowl Chase and Aintree Hurdle, followed by four more on Ladies Day, the Mildmay Novices’ Chase, Top Novices’ Hurdle, Melling Chase and Sefton Novices’ Hurdle, and two more on Grand National Day, the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle and Maghull Novices’ Chase. Aside from the Grand National, the meeting also features two other races over the Grand National fences, the Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase on the Thursday and the Topham Handicap Chase on the Friday.