Horse Racing

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.

The second day of the Down Royal Festival of Racing takes place on Saturday and it is headlined by the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Chase over three miles. There's an excellent supporting card at Down Royal, where they race from 12.53pm-4.10pm on Saturday and the Racing Post previews selections for all the action.

Down Royal hosts two days of high calibre racing across Friday and Saturday this weekend, with Grade 1 action to savour and the appearances of some very exciting novices' to boot. Gordon Elliott has a strong team heading for the Northern Irish circuit and the Racing Post previews both days, starting with Friday at Down Royal where they race from 12.20pm-3.50pm.