The Grand Steeple-Chase des Flandres (Grote Steeple-chase van Vlaanderen; "great steeplechase of Flanders") is a horserace held annually at the Hippodrome Waregem in Waregem, Belgium. It is the centrepiece of the Waregem Koerse ("Waregem Races") meeting, held on the Tuesday of the Waregem Koerse Feesten, a kermesse which begins on the weekend of the last Sunday in August. [1] [2] Local businesses often close for the kermesse. [2] The race is sometimes described as the Belgian Grand National, by analogy with the (English) Grand National. [2] [3] It has a distance of 4600m, with 25 obstacles, the most spectacular of which is the water jump across the Gaverbeek river, which is in front of the grandstand and taken twice in the race. In 1990 the water jumpwas redesigned to reduce the frequency of horses breaking legs; it faced continued criticism from animal welfare activists after deaths there in 2012. [2] [3] The Waregem Koerse was first held in 1849 on the city's cobbled streets; [2] the Steeple-Chase was first held in 1858, sponsored by French businessman Marc Lejeune. [1] In its early decades it was one of the most prestigious horseraces in Europe. [1] It declined after the Second World War when French prize money grew, but recovered somewhat from the 1980s. In the 1990s there was an increase in the number of British entries, from smaller stables. [2] Multiple winners include Spectre (five wins in the 1870s), Redpath (seven wins 1880s–1890s) and Taupin Rochelais (three wins 2015–2017). [4] [5] Since 2010 the race has formed part of the Crystal Cup series of European steeplechases.
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.
Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish. The official capital of Flanders is Brussels, although the Brussels Capital Region has an independent regional government, and the government of Flanders only oversees the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels such as (Flemish) culture and education.
Hippodrome Waregem, located in Waregem, Belgium, is used for horse racing. It hosts the annual Great Flanders Steeple Chase, a steeplechase event. It has a capacity of 40,000 spectators.
