National Hunt racing

‘A more thrilling, uplifting, glorious way of living has yet to be invented,’ the jockey John Francome said of National Hunt racing. Watching last weekend’s action from Cheltenham racecourse, it was easy to see what he meant.

Now is when the National Hunt — or jump — season really gets under way. The summer months are about flat racing, although these days flat racing goes on through the winter, too. There are now six all-weather racetracks in the UK; the latest, Newcastle, opened earlier this year. Of course, it’s not quite the same (floodlights are no replacement for long summer evenings), but it does enable flat horses, trainers and jockeys to stay in business all year round.

For most racing aficionados, winter is about the jumps. While summer racing brings to mind ginormous hats, picnics and Pimm’s, the National Hunt season tends to be far more relaxed. You’ll see plenty of tweed and probably some fur — although hats (of a more sensible type) are a common sight too. Essentially, it’s about keeping warm.

You can’t really write about the jump season without mentioning the most famous steeplechase of them all: the Grand National. Both famous — for the sheer thrill of the Aintree course’s enormous fences — and infamous for the sad fact that horse deaths have historically been higher there than average, it still attracts crowds of over 73,000, and up to 10 million television viewers.

The other major event is the Cheltenham Festival in March — a four-day spectacular which climaxes with the Gold Cup on the Friday. The legendary ‘Cheltenham roar’ (the noise the crowds let out as the first race begins) has to be heard to be believed, and with St Patrick’s Day coinciding with the third day of racing it’s difficult to have a bad day out — even if the luck of the Irish doesn’t go your way.