National Hunt racing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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').
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[edit] Outline
The core of the National Hunt season is over the winter when it is not competing with its more glamorous cousin (flat racing). The softer ground in this season is also 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 and thus become familiar faces to the racing public over a number of seasons.
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 ones who are not 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 two main highlights of the National Hunt Calendar are the Cheltenham Festival meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse, held over four days in the second week of March the festival features eleven Grade one races, culminating in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the best and most prestigious Chase race in the world, on the Friday. Also the Grand National meeting, which is held at Aintree over three days every April. Many of the best horses come to these festivals, which are watched by a huge television audience worldwide. Hundreds of millions of pounds are gambled on these festivals.
Other important festivals are the Galway Races Festival - a hugely popular mixed (NH and flat) meeting in Ireland, Punchestown Festival - the Irish equivalent of the Cheltenham Festival, The Tingle Creek at Sandown Park Racecourse, the Scottish Grand National at Ayr Racecourse, King George VI Chase at Kempton Park Racecourse, and the Welsh National at Chepstow Racecourse.
[edit] History
National hunt racing originated in Ireland, particularly in the southern counties. Early races were mainly two-horse contests known as "pounding races" that 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 the north of County Cork in 1752. The distance of the race was 4.5 miles(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 parts 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.
[edit] National Hunt Racing today
Given the sports origins, 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 Irish-bred, but trained and owned in England.
In recent years however French-bred horses have also come to the forefront with horses such as Master Minded becoming the highest rated horse in Britain after winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Kauto Star who won the Gold Cup in 2007 and was second in 2008 is also French bred. There is however a slight doubt about the longevity of French-bred horses.
[edit] Types of race
- Chase -
-
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 1½ - 2½ miles.
[edit] Grades and classes
Races are graded. The most prestigious are Grade 1, then Grade 2, Grade 3, Listed, Handicaps, to Bumpers the least prestigious. The more highly graded races attract more prize money and better horses. (In flat racing the more prestigious races are Group 1, 2, and 3, then Listed)
All National Hunt races are also classified in classes 1-7 (class 1 best). Graded and listed races are class 1.
See the list of Grade 1-3 National Hunt races and the list of Group 1-3 Flat races
[edit] Major National Hunt festivals
[edit] Cheltenham
The capital of National hunt racing in the UK is Cheltenham Racecourse, in the Cotswolds, which hosts the Cheltenham Festival in the third week of March each year, as well as other important fixtures during the NH calendar.
There are numerous well-known trainers operating in the Cotswolds including Jonjo O'Neil, Richard Phillips, Tom Geroge, Nigel Twiston Davies and latterly Kim Bailey. However in recent years the Cheltenham Festival has been utterly dominated by horses bred and trained in Ireland.
The highlight of the Cheltenham Festival is the Gold Cup (qv). All races run at Cheltenham finish with a long uphill run-in in front of the stands. The Gold Cup is run over a distance of about 3 miles 2 furlongs and on numerous occasions the hill at the finish has found out the brave. All horses carry the same weight in the Gold Cup. Famous winners of the Gold Cup include Dawn Run (mare, ridden by Jonjo O'Neil), Arkle (arguably the greatest horse of all time), Golden Miller (ditto), Best Mate and Desert Orchid.
[edit] Aintree
The most famous NH race is probably the Grand National (qv), run at Aintree in April each year. The race is a different sort of contest to the Gold Cup in that it is run over 4 and a bit miles, there are 40 runners, the course at Aintree is essentially flat, and the horses are handicapped ie the best horses carry the most weight. Perhaps the most fundamental difference is that the grand national fences at Aintree are far bigger than any fence at Cheltenham, and a number of fences incorporate significant drops. The Canal Turn is a huge fence, with a substantial drop and a 90 degree turn. It is jumped twice and accounts for many fallers each year.
Famous winners of the Grand National include Red Rum (won 3 times, runner up twice), Mr Frisk (the last winner to be ridden by an amateur jockey), Aldaniti (ridden by Bob Champion shortly after he had recovered from cancer; his story was made into a film) and Foinavon (winner at 100 to 1 in 1967 when all other horses fell or refused 8 out, a fence now named after the winner).
1973, the first year that Red Rum won is generally acknowledged as being his most exciting victory. Crisp, carrying top weight (12 stone), had built up a lead of about 20 lengths from the rest of the field. Red Rum gradually eroded this enormous gap with a couple of fences left to jump. As Crisp came into the elbow, a slight crook in the course where the long run-in starts, his jockey brought his whip out to try and encourage the horse for the final effort required. Unfortunately the effect was to put the horse slightly off balance allowing Red Rum, carrying 24 lbs less weight, to rob him in the shadow of the post. Much is made of the huge difference in weight carried by the two horses. Supporters of Red Rum point out that he carried top weight in all subsequent renewals, and yet went on to win twice more.
[edit] Other notable National Hunt races
Other NH races of note include the King George VI run at Kempton Park on 26 December and the Hennessy Gold Cup run at Newbury at the end of November.
[edit] Hunter chase racing
Hunter chases take place at national hunt racecourses but are only open to thoroughbred horses that have hunter certificates. Hunter certificates are issued to horses that have hunted for at least four days in the season before racing starts in January. In addition the jockey must be an amature who has obtained a certificate from the hunt secretary.
Unlike point-to-points licenced trainers may have runners in Hunter Chases as well as amature trainers. This oftern causes controversy when big name trainers run former Grade 1 horses in Hunter Chases as amature trainers feel they are unable to compete.
The two biggest Hunter Chases are the Aintree and Cheltenham Foxhunter's. The Aintree Foxhunter's is run as the feature race on the first day of the Grand National meeting over one circuit of the Grand Nation course. This gives amature riders the chance to jump these famous fences before the professionals.
The Cheltenham Foxhunter's is run after the Gold Cup over the same distance and is often refered to as the amature Gold Cup.
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[edit] Point to point racing
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This section requires expansion. |
[edit] See also
- Steeplechase for this style of horse racing more generically ('steeplechase' being the term used for similar styles of racing in the USA)
[edit] External links
- Follow the National Hunt Festival '08 with BBC Gloucestershire
- BBC Gloucestershire's Virtual Cheltenham: An insider's view of the world famous National Hunt course
Steeplechase
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other meanings, see Steeplechase (disambiguation)
The steeplechase is a form of horse racing (primarily conducted in the United Kingdom, United States, France and Ireland) and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside. In the UK and Ireland the term steeplechase is not used, even though the word originated in Ireland: the term (and formal code of racing) is National Hunt racing.
It is a term now used to refer to a distance horse race with diverse fence and ditch obstacles; the most famous of these is the Grand National run annually at Aintree Racecourse, in Liverpool, since its conception in 1837.
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[edit] History
The steeplechase originated in Ireland in the 18th century as an analogue to cross-country horse races which went from church steeple to church steeple, hence "steeplechase". The first steeplechase is said to have been the result of a wager in 1752 between Mr. Cornelius O'Callaghan and Mr. Edmund Blake, racing four miles (6 km) cross-country from Buttevant Church to St. Leger Church in Doneraile, in Cork, Ireland. An account of the race was believed to have been in the library of the O'Brien's of Dromoland Castle. Most of the earlier steeplechases were contested cross-country rather than on a track, and resembled English cross country as it exists today. The first recorded steeplechase over a prepared track with fences was run in Bedlam, North Yorkshire in 1810.
[edit] Racing in the United States
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Thomas Hitchcock (1860-1941) is known as the father of American steeplechasing. In the late 1800s, he built a steeplechase training center on his 3,000-acre (12 km²) property in Aiken, South Carolina and trained horses imported from England. No less important are the contributions by fellow Aiken seasonal resident F. Ambrose Clark. Clark held many important chases on his Brookville (Long Island) estate, Broad Hollow, in the 1920's and 1930's. Ford Conger Field was built by F. Ambrose Clark and is the site of the annual Aiken Steeplechase, a part of the Triple Crown in March. The first Steeplechase Meet in Aiken was held March 14, 1930 in Hitchcock Woods. In addition to the Aiken Steeplechase, South Carolina is also home to the Colonial Cup and the Carolina Cup, which is the largest event on the circuit. Both of these races are held in Camden, South Carolina.
The Virginia Gold Cup is also among the oldest steeplechase races in the United States, with its first running in 1922. Every first Saturday in May, more than 50,000 spectators gather at Great Meadow near The Plains, Virginia (45 miles west of Washington, DC). The 4-mile (6.4 km) grass course with 4-foot (1.2 m) high timber fences is often referred to as the "crown jewel of steeplechasing."
The Iroquois Steeplechase event is held in Nashville, Tennessee. Starting in 1941, it has been held at Percy Warner Park. It is annually held in the spring and it is considered to be one of the great sporting spectacles in Nashville and its surrounding areas. Beginning in 1941, with one year off during World War II, the Iroquois Steeplechase has been running continuously at Percy Warner Park on the beautiful race course inspired by Marcellus Frost and designed by William duPont. The widely renowned event would not have endured without the guidance of Mason Houghland and Calvin Houghland, who between them lovingly put on the race for half a century. They combined the efforts of the foxhunters and volunteer horsemen with the cooperation and support of the Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation to create a great sporting spectacle that has become a springtime institution in the region.
The Queens Cup Steeplechase is another major annual steeplechase event. It is held the last Saturday of April at Brooklandwood, a farm and estate in Mineral Springs, North Carolina, about 20 miles (32 km) from Charlotte. This day long event of racing and social activities attracts over 10,000 spectators, many of whom travel great distances to attend.
During the 1940s and 50s, the Broad Hollow Steeplechase Handicap, the Brook National Steeplechase Handicap and the American Grand National were regarded as American steeplechasing's Triple Crown.
Kentucky Downs near Franklin, Kentucky (originally Dueling Grounds Race Course) was built in 1990 as a steeplechase track, with a kidney-shaped turf circuit. At its inception, the track offered some of the richest purses in the history of American steeplechase. The track has undergone numerous ownership changes, with steeplechase races playing an on-and-off role (mainly off) in the track's limited live race meets.
[edit] Racing in Australia
Australia has a long history of jumps racing which was introduced by British settlers. In the 20th century the northern states of Queensland and New South Wales phased out all jumps racing. Today only Victoria and South Australia hold steeplechases, Tasmania having ceased jumps racing as of April 2007. [1]
The jumping season in Australia normally takes place from March until August (some minor races are held either side of these months). Horses for steeplechasing
are primarily former flat racing horses, rather than horses specifically bred for jumping. There is an emphasis on safety in Australia which has led to a
reduction in the size of obstacles. As jumps races take place at flat racing meetings there is also a need for portable jumps. Most chasing occurs on steeple
lanes but also includes parts of the main flat racing track. From Easter to May the major distance races occur. The Great Eastern Steeplechase at Oakbank is held on Easter Monday in South Australia drawing
crowds of over 100,000. The Grand Annual, which has the most fences of any
steeplechase in the world, is held in May at Warrnambool. Each
state holds its own Grand National, the most prestigious is the VRC Grand National at Flemington run in the winter. The jumping season culminates with the set weights and penalties Hiskens Steeple run at Moonee Valley. The Hiskens is regarded as the Cox Plate of jumps racing. Steeplechasing has been the subject of protests by activists who
regard it as cruel and in general has struggled to maintain its place in the Australian racing scene. Despite this Australia and New Zealand continue to
produce quality chasers. The most famous is Crisp who was narrowly beaten by
the champion Red Rum in the English Grand National. Crisp subsequently beat Red Rum at set
weights. More recently Karasi has won the Nakayama Grand Jump, the worlds richest jumps race held in Japan, three times.
[edit] Eventing
The equestrian sport of eventing has a steeplechase phase, which is held in its "classic" or "long format". Unlike the racing form, horses do not race each other over the course, but rather are just meant to come under a pre-set "optimum time." The fences are usually very similar in type, all with brush that is meant to be jumped through rather than over. Ditches, post-and-rail, and other upright fences are not used. Penalty points are added to the horse's score if he exceeds the optimum time, but there is no reward for an especially fast round.
[edit] See also
- Breeders' Cup Grand National Steeplechase
- American Grand National
- Chase (racing)
- Cheltenham Gold Cup
- Cheltenham Festival
- English Grand National
- List of horse races
- National Hunt racing
- Point to point racing
- Velká pardubická
Breeders' Cup Grand National Steeplechase
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grade I Race | |
|---|---|
| Breeders' Cup Grand National | |
|
|
| Location | Moorland Farms Racecourse
Far Hills, New Jersey  |
| Inaugurated | 1899 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Steeplechase |
| Website | Far Hills Race Meeting Association, Inc. |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 2⅝ miles |
| Track | Steeplechase, 14 fences |
| Qualification | Three-year-olds |
| Weight | |
| Purse | $300,000 |
The Breeders' Cup Grand National Steeplechase is an American Grade I NSA sanctioned steeplechase race run each fall over the rolling hills of Moorland Farms in Far Hills, New Jersey. Set over a 2 5/8-mile course during the one day "Far Hills Race Meeting," it has 14 national fences, and a purse of $300,000. This new purse, increased in 2006, makes it the richest event in American steeplechase racing.
The race dates back to 1899 and was long the premier stakes in U.S. jump racing. Past winners include 11 of the 14 steeplechasers inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame: Flatterer (also a close second in the 1987 Champion Hurdle), Zaccio, Café Prince, Bon Nouvel, Neji, Oedipus, Elkridge, Bushranger, Battleship (in 1938 became the only winner of this race and the Aintree Grand National), Jolly Roger and Good and Plenty.
The race has been held at Belmont Park, at Saratoga Race Course, and at Morris Park racetracks, as well as the steeplechase meets at Fair Hill, Maryland and Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Grand National (once called the American Grand National) is one of the oldest races in steeplechasing and one of the most important outside Europe. It has been brought back from oblivion by the dedication of a combination of steeplechase enthusiasts. Run in 2006 for the 14th time in its latest incarnation, the day of steeplechasing at Far Hills includes seven races, the most important of which is the Grand National.
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[edit] Winners of the Grand National since 1998
Year
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Winner
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Age
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Jockey
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Trainer
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Owner
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Time
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| 2007 | McDynamo | 10 | Jody Petty | Sanna Hendriks | Michael J. Moran | 5:30.60 |
| 2006 | McDynamo | 9 | Jody Petty | Sanna Hendriks | Michael J. Moran | 5:58.20 |
| 2005 | McDynamo | 8 | Jody Petty | Sanna Hendriks | Michael J. Moran | 5:46.65 |
| 2004 | McDynamo | 7 | Craig Thornton | Sanna Hendriks | Michael J. Moran | 5:06.80 |
| 2003 | McDynamo | 6 | Craig Thornton | Sanna Hendriks | Michael J. Moran | 5:24.12 |
| 2002 | Flat Top | 9 | Robert Massey | Janet Elliot | Nancy Gerry | 5:19.44 |
| 2001 | Quel Senor | 6 | Cyril Murphy | Tom Voss | Coppertree Farm | 4:54.20 |
| 2000 | All Gong | 6 | Blythe Miller | Bruce Miller | Calvin Houghland | 4:53.90 |
| 1999 | Ninepins | 12 | Arch Kingsley, Jr. | Jonathan Sheppard | Hudson River Farm | 5:28.40 |
| 1998 | Flat Top | 5 | Bitsy Patterson | Janet Elliot | Nancy Gerry | 4:55.60 |
[edit] Earlier winners
- 1997 - Rowdy Irishman
- 1996 - Correggio
- 1995 - Rowdy Irishman
- 1994 - Warm Spell
- 1993 - Lonesome Glory (5-time US champion)
- 1992 - Highland Bud (2-time US champion)
- 1991 - Morley Street (English champion)
- 1990 - Morley Street
- 1989 - Highland Bud
- 1988 - Jimmy Lorenzo (US champion)
- 1987 - Gacko (French champion)
- 1986 - Census (multiple graded stakes winner)
Velká pardubická
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Velká pardubická is a steeplechase cross-country run in Bohemia (now Czech Republic) since 1874 in Pardubice. It takes place every second Sunday in October. The length of the steeplechase is 6.9 km, with 31 obstacles. It takes 9-10 minutes to finish the course.
Steeplechases
[edit] Czech Republic
[edit] France
[edit] Ireland
[edit] Italy
[edit] Japan
- Nakayama Grand Jump (Recap can be seen via JRA International Race Recap
[edit] United Kingdom
See also:
[edit] United States
- American Grand National Steeplechase
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Breeders' Cup
Grand National Steeplechase
- This race is not related to the Breeders' Cup flat races except via a cosponsorship arrangement between the National Steeplechase Association, which operates the race, and Breeders' Cup Limited, which operates the other Breeders' Cup races and owns the "Breeders' Cup" trademark.
- The Maryland Hunt Cup
- The Brookhill Steeplechase
- Iroquois Steelechase
- Marion DuPont Scott Colonial Cup
- Carolina Cup
- Queens Cup Steeplechase held in Mineral Springs, North Carolina
