The milieu of horse racing in Great Britain – How it has evolved

Presently, horse racing is the second-largest sport in Great Britain and the most popular horse racing events in the nation like Royal Ascot are deemed as the most vital events of the entire year. In fact, horse racing as a sport generates more than 3.7 billion pounds for the British economy and most of the major horse races are held in 10 among 12 months of the year. Horse races have always been a necessary part of the British culture.

18^th and 19^th Century horse racing in the UK

A keeper of several horses, Queen Anne had founded the Royal Ascot in the initial part of the 18^th century and this is why the opening race of every Royal Ascot is called Queen Anne Stakes. This sport took to its peak in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and under the influence of Sir Charles Bunbury, the Derby and Oaks were introduced at Epsom. Later on in the 19^th century, the first ever steeplechasing races were introduced and William Lynn introduced the Grand National during the end of the 19^th century.

Officially acclaimed race courses in the UK

You’ll be rather glad to know that Britain is home to 60 official race courses among which most of them are dated back to the 1920s. Majority of the tracks among them have been converted to turf, unlike most tracks in the US. So now there are just 6 tracks in Britain where horse races can be hosted at any weather:

1. Kempton Park
2. Chelmsford City
3. Newcastle
4. Lingfield
5. Wolverhampton
6. Southwell

All of the above mentioned all-weather horse racing track are made of Fibresand, Tapeta or Polytrack.

Few of the major British Horse Race Festivals

Starting from March till December, there are several of those major horse races as well as festivals which occur throughout Britain. There are events like the well-acclaimed Royal Ascot to the less-popular Coral Welsh National which occurs in Wales. You need to know that all events aren’t same; while some are national hunt racing, some others are flat racing. But they all are waited for with equal anticipation by the Brits. Let’s check out a list of events:

March

• The Cheltenham Festival in Cheltenham, England
• Blue Square Winter Derby in Lingfield, England

April

• Bet365 Gold Cup Celebration, England
• Craven Meeting, England
• Aintree Grand National, Aintree
• Scottish Grand National, Scotland

May

• Dante Meeting, York
• Guineas Meeting, Newmarket England
• Chester’s May Festival, Chester England

June

• Royal Ascot, Ascot
• Epsom Derby Meet, Epsom

July

• Newmarket’s July Meet, England
• Coral Eclipse Meeting, Sandown
• Glorious Goodwood, England

August

• Ebor Festival, York

September

• Ledger Meeting, Doncaster
• William Hill Sprint Cup, England
• Ascot’s September Festival, Ascot

October

• Newmarket’s October Meeting, Newmarket
• Racing Post Trophy, Doncaster
• Totesport Cambridgeshire Meet, England

November

• North West Masters, Aintree
• The Paddy Power Open, Cheltenham

December

• Stan James Christmas Festival, England
• Tingle Creek Meeting, Sandown
• Coral Welsh National, Wales

Henceforth, if you’re a resident of Great Britain, you should be aware of the horse racing culture of the place. This is certainly something that the Brits should be proud of.