Everything you need to know about the start of the season for National Hunt racing, a form of horse racing in the UK and Ireland.
National Hunt racing is a form of horse racing in the UK and Ireland where horses jump over obstacles such as fences, hurdles or ditches.
National Hunt Season 2023/24 Start Date
The Jump Jockeys Championship starts in July and runs to Finals Day at Sandown Park towards the end of April the following year.
However, the start of the winter National Hunt programme in the UK is traditionally seen as the Chepstow Jump Season opener.
To confuse things further, the Charlie Hall meeting at Wetherby - featuring the Charlie Hall Chase - is often recognised in racing circles as the time that the sport switches full attention to National Hunt.
This comes after Champions Day at Ascot, featuring the Champion Stakes, which serves as the finale to the British Flat racing season.
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How to Bet on National Hunt Races through oddschecker
There are two very easy ways you can bet on National Hunt races through oddschecker - the app and website. For further explanation please see below.
For website use, all you need to do is load up the page, click Horse Racing > Racing Home and then you will notice the current day and following day’s fixtures in Britain.
Alternatively, the home page is filtered with all the latest betting odds. For available National Hunt races betting odds at a later date, you can also access the Ante-Post section.
For app use, which is highly recommended for placing bets on National Hunt races, this can be downloaded for free via the App Store.
To find out all of the betting odds for available National Hunt races on the current and following day’s fixtures plus Ante-Post, click Horse Racing at the top of the home page and you will find pretty much everything you need.
What is the difference between a Hurdle and a Chase?
A chase is run over fences, the larger obstacles, and can be run over various distances including marathon trips.
Races such as the Classic Chase, Eider Chase, the Grand National, Welsh National and Scottish Grand National are just a sample of the longer distance events.
A hurdles race, which is over the smaller obstacles, can be used for maidens, novices and senior horses. Races such as the Champion Hurdle, Stayers Hurdle, Supreme Novices Hurdle and the Tolworth Hurdle spring to mind for perfect examples of a hurdle race.
The third and final type of National Hunt race is a bumper, which is a race run without jumps but at a National Hunt meet – for example, the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham.
Horses must be aged seven years or under and must not have raced in a National Hunt meet before (apart from in other bumper races).
Click here for more on the difference between a Chase and a Hurdle.
National Hunt Season Key Dates
- Chepstow – Jumps Season Opener (October 13th to 14th)
- Cheltenham – The Showcase Meeting (October 27th to 28th)
- Wetherby – Charlie Hall Chase Day (November 4th)
- Cheltenham – The November Meeting (November 17th to 19th)
- Haydock - Betfair Chase Day (November 19th)
- Newcastle - Fighting Fifth Hurdle Day (December 2nd)
- Sandown - Tingle Creek Festival (December 8th to 9th)
- Kempton - Christmas Festival (December 26th to 27th)
- Chepstow - Welsh Grand National Day (December 28th)
- Cheltenham - New Year’s Day Meeting (January 1st)
- Sandown - Tolworth Hurdle Day (January 6th)
- Cheltenham - Festival Trials Day (January 27th)
- Cheltenham - The Festival (March 12th to 15th)
- Aintree - Grand National Festival (April 11th to 13th)
- Sandown - Jump Finale Day (April 17th)
When is the Cheltenham Festival?
The 2024 Cheltenham Festival will get underway on Tuesday 12th March 2024 and run for four days through to Friday 15th March.
