We’re into August and that means we’ve already seen the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National, the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot come and go for 2017. Four of the biggest events of the calendar have passed for another year but we’ve still got some high class racing to come and the next focus is on York.
Ebor
The Ebor meeting will be held from the 23rd to the 26th of August this year and there are four days of high class flat racing on offer. A number of group one renewals are taking place and it all begins on Wednesday – the Juddmonte International Day – which features the Acomb Stakes, the Great Voltigeur Stakes and the Juddmonte International itself.
On to Thursday and the highlights of Ladies Day are the Lowther Stakes and the Yorkshire Oaks, another two top class renewals but for many, the best races are still to come. On Friday there will be plenty of interest in the Nunthorpe Stakes which has been run since 1922 but we also have the Gimcrack Stakes and the Strensall Stakes to look forward to.
The meeting concludes on Saturday with the Ebor Handicap and the Lonsdale Cup. It’s arguably the last quality flat racing meeting of the year but there is plenty more still to come as we cross to the National Hunt calendar. Don’t miss the best betting opportunities, find on this website.
Over the jumps
The National Hunt season warms up with some minor races before the very first group one of the new campaign takes place at Haydock Park in November. The Betfair Chase always attracts a strong field, even though it is a relatively new addition to the calendar, having been first run in 2005.
From there, we have an isolated Group One over the jumps at Newcastle in December with the Flying Fifth Hurdle to kick off the month and then we are firmly into a great period of racing across the festive season.
No fewer than eight Group One renewals will take place for the remainder of the month but for many, the undoubted highlight comes at Kempton Park where the focal point is the Boxing Day running of the King George VI Chase. First held in 1937, this is a three mile event for four year olds and above and it’s produced some high drama and notable winners over the years.
Also featured at Kempton are the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase and the Christmas Hurdle. These will both take place on December 26 and this packed Boxing Day schedule is the perfect antidote to an absence of any racing on Christmas Day.
Further afield
This round up may conclude the year’s horse racing in the UK but there are more high class events taking place outside of Great Britain. Perhaps the most prestigious of these is the Melbourne Cup which will be held at the historic Flemington Course on November 7.
Billed as the ‘Race that Stops a Nation’, the Melbourne Cup forms part of the Spring Racing Carnival and while it’s the biggest race Down Under, there are lots of classic Group One renewals to look forward to in Australia.
We’ve a while to wait until Cheltenham kicks off the new calendar year in style but don’t despair: There is plenty of top horse racing action still to come in 2017.
