What are the Most Prestigious Horse Racing Events in Britain and Ireland?

What are the Most Prestigious Horse Racing Events in Britain and Ireland?

Meta: If you want to look into horse racing in the UK and Ireland, you will most likely start with the most prestigious. Find out more about these events here.

Horse racing is one of the most popular sports in Britain and Ireland. Though few actually might ever ride a horse for themselves, it is one of the most popular spectator sports here – only beaten by football! Events might take place more or less every day, but that does not stop some of these events pulling ahead to be some of the most prestigious in the horse racing calendar. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest events that you might wish to check out.

The Grand National

Even if you do not follow horse racing, there is a good chance that you have heard of the Grand National. This National Hunt course is often thought to be one of the most challenging in the world for horses and riders alike. It has tighter corners, higher jumps, and a longer course than most other racecourses around the world.

On top of this, it attracts a lot of attention from people who might not otherwise be interested in horse racing. For this reason, you can easily head online to sites like the Spin online casino [1] (for example) come the Grand National and find plenty of information about the race itself and early predictions on the outcome of the races based on the form of the runners and riders.

[2] (Image Source: Pixabay)

The Cheltenham Festival

The Cheltenham Festival is a four-day horse event taking place in March every year. This is a firm favourite among horse-racing fans, especially due to its fun themed days such as Ladies Day [3] and St Patrick’s Thursday.

Due to the close proximity of the Grand National and Cheltenham, it is rare that you find the same horses at both events. Most trainers will select different horses for each one, as trying to run a horse at both could exhaust or injure the animal. Winning the Gold Cup race at Cheltenham is the goal for many who enter their horses here.

The Royal Ascot

Ascot is a racecourse that has received royal patronage for centuries. Many racing fans consider it to be prestigious for this simple reason, as there have been links between UK royalty and these races since the time of Queen Anne.

The current UK monarch Elizabeth II is a fan of racing and looks forward to Ascot each year. Her horses have even won several times. Ascot can also be considered prestigious for its large prize pot [4]. While it is not the biggest prize pot in the world, it is measured in millions, and is larger than many of the other horse races around the UK.

These may be just three of the races that you can find around the UK, but they are definitely some of the most prestigious. Even if an individual does not count themselves as a fan of horse racing, they will usually be able to name at least one of these races. It is little wonder that you can find some of the best examples of the sport when you check out the games here.