National Hunt racing

National Hunt racing is the official name given to the sport of horse racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland where the horses are required to jump over obstacles called hurdles or fences (except in the case of a 'bumper'). The core of the National Hunt season is over the winter when it is not competing with its more glamorous cousin, and the ground is softer and more appropriate for jumping. The horses are much cheaper as the majority are geldings and have no breeding value. This makes the sport more popular as the horses are not usually retired at such a young age. Jump racing is only taken seriously in Britain, Ireland and France. In Ireland the sport is far more popular than flat racing, while in England it is more balanced, but the different seasons mean that most fans of the sport can enjoy both forms of racing.

The horses come from a variety of sources, with many being former flat horses, while others are bred for jumping. National Hunt horses do not have to be thoroughbreds, but most are, and the only ones who are not are tend to be French. Many of the future stars of the sport come through Point-to-Pointing. The name reflects its hunting origins, from which the sport developed. The same skills of jumping ability and speed are required to succeed at both.

The highlight of the National Hunt Calendar is the Cheltenham Festival, which is held at Cheltenham Racecourse every March. Many of the best horses come to the festival, as well as huge numbers of Irish fans. Hundreds of millions of pounds are gambled over the four days. This is regarded as the "olympics of Horse Racing". Other important festivals are the Punchestown Festival - the Irish equivalent , and Aintree's Grand National meeting, The Tingle Creek in Sandown as well as the Scottish National in Ayr and the Welsh National in Chepstow.

National hunt racing originated in Ireland, particularly in that country's southern counties, where mainly two-horse contests known as "pounding races" became popular in the early 18th century. These involved long trips across country where horses were required to jump whatever obstacles the landscape threw in their way. The first recorded race of this nature took place between the towns of Buttevant and Doneraile in north County Cork in 1752. The trip was 4.5 miles or 7.2km. The start and finish were marked by the church steeple in each town, hence the term "steeplechase". Point-to-point races, amateur steeplechases normally run on farmland, remain hugely popular in the same region, and in many parst of rural Ireland, today. The first use of the term steeplechase on an official racecard was in Ireland in the early 19th century. The first running of the world's most famous steeplechase, the Grand National, held annually at Aintree in England, took place in 1856. An Irish horse, Lottery, took the honours. The national, as its known, is run over 4.5 miles, presumably in honour of the "first" steeplechase. Irish-bred and trained horses remain a dominant force in national hunt racing today. In 2005 and 2006, Irish-trained horses captured the three main prizes at Cheltenham and won the Grand National. Best Mate who captured three successive Cheltenham Gold Cups between 2002-2004, was an Irish-bred, but trained and owned in England. Arkle, the most famous horse in the sport's history, was Irish bred and trained (by Tom Dreaper in Co Dublin).

Types of race

• Chase -
  • run over distances of 2 - 4½ miles.
  • over obstacles called fences that are a minimum of 4½ feet high.
• Hurdling -
  • run over distances of 2 - 3½ miles.
  • over obstacles called hurdles that are a minimum of 3½ feet high.
• National Hunt Flat race (NH Flat) -
  • are flat races for horses that have not yet competed either in flat racing or over obstacles, often called 'bumper' races.
  • run over distances of 2 - 2½ miles.

Also see

• Steeplechase (horse racing) for this style of horse racing more generically ('steeplechase' being the term used for similar styles of racing in the USA)