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Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in the UK and steeplechasing in the US. Jump racing can be further divided into hurdling and steeplechasing.
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.
Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and three Grade 1 Jumps races.
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.
Leicester Racecourse is a horse racing course in Oadby, Leicestershire, about three miles south of the city centre.
Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track together with a licensed entertainment and conference venue in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, near the border with Greater London; it is 16 miles south-west of Charing Cross in central London. The site has 210 acres of flat grassland surrounded by woodland with two lakes in its centre. Its entrance borders Kempton Park railway station which was created for racegoers on a branch line from London Waterloo, via Clapham Junction.
Doncaster Racecourse is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat races, the St Leger Stakes and the Racing Post Trophy.
Leopardstown Racecourse is an Irish horse-racing venue, located in Leopardstown, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of the Dublin city centre. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing.
Sedgefield Racecourse is an English left-handed horse racing course, used for jump racing. It is owned by Arena Racing Company and located close to the town of Sedgefield, County Durham.
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.
Hurricane Fly is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in hurdle races when under the care of trainer Willie Mullins at Closutton in County Carlow in Ireland. He is a dual winner of the Champion Hurdle and previously held the world record for most Grade 1 races won by any racehorse until overtaken by Winx in 2019. Originally bred to be a flat racer, the gelding began his racing career in France where he had moderate success, winning twice in ten races. At the end of 2007 he was sold and transferred to Ireland where he began to compete in National Hunt events. On 15 March 2011, Hurricane Fly ridden by Ruby Walsh won the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Blackstairmountain is an Irish racehorse best known for winning the Nakayama Grand Jump in 2013. He is the first horse trained in Europe to win the race.
Like-A-Butterfly was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who competed in National Hunt racing. Although she did not begin competing in public until she was seven years old she had a successful racing career, winning twelve of her seventeen races, including five at Grade I level. She was unbeaten in three National Hunt Flat races including the Champion INH Flat Race and her first five over hurdles including the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, Deloitte Novice Hurdle and Supreme Novices' Hurdle. She won the Irish Champion Hurdle but missed the whole of the next season through injury. In her final season she competed in steeplechases and won three times including the Powers Gold Cup and the Mildmay Novices' Chase. After retiring from racing she produced five foals before dying of horse colic at the age of nineteen.
Jezki is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. After showing promise in National Hunt Flat races he won five times as a novice hurdler in the 2012/2013 season, with his victories including the Fishery Lane Hurdle, Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, Future Champions Novice Hurdle and Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurdle. In the following season he won the WKD Hurdle and the Hatton's Grace Hurdle before taking the 2014 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham Racecourse and following up with a win in the Racing Post Champion Hurdle. In the following season he was beaten in his first three races by Hurricane Fly and finished fourth to Faugheen in the Champion Hurdle before winning the Aintree Hurdle over two and a half miles and defeating Hurricane Fly in the World Series Hurdle.
Champagne Fever is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is noted for his front-running style and has won seven of his thirteen races. After beginning his racing career on the amateur point-to-point circuit he became the dominant National Hunt Flat performer in Britain and Ireland in 2012, winning the Champion Bumper and the Champion INH Flat Race. In the following season he was campaigned in novice hurdle races and won two more Grade I races, the Deloitte Novice Hurdle in Ireland and Supreme Novices' Hurdle in England. In his first season over steeplechase fences he won one minor race and finished second in the Arkle Challenge Trophy and in the following year he added win in the Clonmel Oil Chase and Red Mills Chase.
Royal Gait was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won at the highest level in both Flat and National Hunt racing. Originally trained in Spain, where he won seven races, he was later moved to France where he became an outstanding performer over staying distances, winning the Prix du Cadran and Prix Royal Oak as a four-year-old in 1987. In the following year he won the Prix de Barbeville and the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier before being controversially disqualified after winning the Ascot Gold Cup. After a break of more than three years he was sent to the United Kingdom to compete in Hurdle races and won the 1992 Champion Hurdle. He collapsed and died after finishing fourth at Leopardstown Racecourse on 30 December 1992.
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.
Limestone Lad is a retired Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competed mainly in National Hunt racing. Bred, owned and trained by a farming family in rural Ireland he was offered for sale as three-year-old but was rejected after failing a medical examination. His early racing career was unremarkable but he made steady improvement and eventually retired with a record of thirty-five wins and nineteen places from sixty-five races. He was best known for his durability and his performances in long-distance hurdle races and usually raced from the front.
Rule the World is a British-bred, Irish-trained thoroughbred racehorse who won the Grand National as a novice in 2016. He showed good form as a staying hurdler, winning the Slaney Novice Hurdle in 2013 and the Limestone Lad Hurdle in 2014 before being stepped up to compete in steeplechases. In his first season over fences he failed to win in eight attempts but finished second in five races including the Irish Grand National. In the 2015/16 season he recorded two seconds and a third in his first five races before posting his first steeplechase win in the Grand National on 9 April 2016.
Sizing John is a British-bred, Irish trained thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is trained by Jessica Harrington and owned by Ann and Alan Potts, and is best known for winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2017. He has been ridden in most of his races by Jonathon Burke, but has more recently been ridden Robbie Power, including all four of his Grade 1 wins over fences. He also won a Grade 1 over Hurdles, the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown in 2014, and spent much of his early chasing career finishing second or third in races won by Douvan, widely regarded as one of the best chasers of recent times.
References
- ↑ "Naas Racecourse" . Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- 1 2 "History - Naas Races" . Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ↑ White, John (1992). The Racegoers' Encyclopedia. Collins Willow. p. 140. ISBN 0-00-218404-4.
