Cheltenham is a spa town on the edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is also a local government district with borough status. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the most complete Regency town in Britain.
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: hurdles and steeplechases. Alongside these there are "bumpers", which are National Hunt flat races. In a hurdles race, the horses jump over obstacles called hurdles; in a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jump or an open ditch. In the UK, the biggest National Hunt events of the year are generally considered to be the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs, and during its running there are 22 fences to be jumped. The race takes place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase, which takes place annually in April over three days. Aintree also holds meetings in May and June, October (Sunday), November and December.
The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Racecourse in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It usually coincides with Saint Patrick's Day and is particularly popular with Irish visitors.
Leicester Racecourse is a horse racing course in Oadby, Leicestershire, about three miles south of the city centre.
Cheltenham Race Course railway station serves Cheltenham Racecourse on the outskirts of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, and France. The name is derived from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside.
Hurst Park Racecourse was a racecourse at Moulsey Hurst, West Molesey, Surrey, near the River Thames. It was first laid out in 1890 and held its last race in 1962.
Exeter Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located near the city of Exeter, Devon, England. Locally it is known as Haldon racecourse because of its location on top of the Haldon Hills. Until the early 1990s it was officially known as Devon and Exeter.
Wincanton Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Wincanton, Somerset, England.
Punchestown Racecourse is located in the parish of Eadestown, between the R410 and R411 regional roads near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland. It is known as the home of Irish Jumps Racing and plays host to the annual Punchestown Irish National Hunt Festival. The racecourse itself is right-handed with an undulating hurdle and steeplechase track. The hurdle course is one mile six furlongs in distance while the chase course is 2 miles. Punchestown Racecourse also has the only cross country banks course in Ireland.
The Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles, and during its running there are fourteen fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Synchronised was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist long-distance steeplechaser, he was best known for his performances in the 2011–2012 National Hunt season, when he won the Grade I Lexus Chase in Ireland before winning Britain's most prestigious steeplechase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, on 17 March. He was euthanized after incurring a leg fracture in the Grand National on 14 April 2012.
Morley Street (1984-–2009) was an Irish racehorse. He was a specialist hurdler but also won steeplechases and races on the flat. In a racing career which lasted from November 1988 until December 1995, he ran forty-five times and won twenty races including the Champion Hurdle in 1991 and the Aintree Hurdle on four successive occasions. He won the title of American Champion Steeplechase Horse on two occasions, as a result of back-to-back wins in the Breeders' Cup Steeplechase.
The New One was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. In a career running from November 2011 to December 2018 he ran in 40 races, winning 20 times, being placed a further nine times and earning over £1,000,000 in win and place prize money. In the 2011/2012 National Hunt season he won three of his four races when competing in National Hunt Flat races including the Champion Standard Open NH Flat Race at Aintree Racecourse. In the following year, competing over hurdles, he won four of his six starts including the Leamington Novices' Hurdle and the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. In the following season he won the International Hurdle and finished third in Champion Hurdle before winning the Aintree Hurdle. In the 2014/15 season he won his first four races including a second International Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle Trial. He went on to win three more Champion Hurdle Trials, a third International Hurdle and a Welsh Champion Hurdle. The New One was retired after being pulled up in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham on 15 December 2018.
Remittance Man was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. He was noted for his consistency, excellent jumping and nervous temperament. Between December 1988 and April 1990 he competed in hurdle races, and showed promise by winning two of his twelve races including the Grade 2 Bristol Novices' Hurdle and never finishing worse than third. When switched to compete in steeplechases he showed immediate improvement and won thirteen of his first fourteen races over fences. In his first season of steeplechasing his wins included the Noel Novices' Chase, Wayward Lad Novices' Chase, Galloway Braes Novices' Chase and Arkle Challenge Trophy. He had his greatest success in the 1991/1992 season when he won the Arlington Premier Chase, Queen Mother Champion Chase and Melling Chase. In the following autumn he won the Desert Orchid Chase and the Peterborough Chase but then sustained a serious tendon injury. He won his comeback race in February 1994 but was beaten in his three remaining races.
Bacchanal was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. He was lightly-raced, winning ten of his twenty races between January 1999 and January 2003. As a novice hurdler he won two of his four races and in the following season he won the Gerry Feilden Hurdle before recording his biggest win in the Stayers' Hurdle. He later developed into a top class steeplechaser, winning the Feltham Novices' Chase, Reynoldstown Novices' Chase and Aon Chase and twice finishing third in the King George VI Chase. He returned to hurdles to win the Long Distance Hurdle in 2002, but was killed in a fall at Cheltenham in January 2003.
Nomadic Way was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was a successful stayer on the flat and was a top class hurdler under National Hunt rules, switching between the two codes in a racing career which lasted from October 1987 until January 1993.
Colwall Park Racecourse was a British horse racing venue which operated from 1900 to 1939. It was known as one of England’s prettiest racecourses.
