Beginners' Guide to the new National Hunt Season

Key Fixtures and Races

The season commenced on May 1, 2024, and will run until late April 2025, with the winter jumping season spanning from October to April.

Notable fixtures include:

• Cheltenham November Meeting (November 2024): Three days of quality action at the Home of Jump Racing.
• Hennessy Gold Cup Festival (November 2024): This features the two biggest days of Jumps racing at Newbury, with the newly-named Coral Gold Cup (formerly the Hennessy) being the feature race of the meeting.
• King George Christmas Festival (December 2024): Held at Kempton, the Festival features one of the season highlights - the King George - as well as the Christmas Hurdle.
• Dublin Racing Festival (February 2025): Held at Leopardstown, this festival features multiple Grade 1 races and serves as a key preparatory event for the Cheltenham Festival.
• Cheltenham Festival (March 2025): A four-day event featuring top-tier races like the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle.
• Aintree Grand National Festival (April 2025): Home to the iconic Grand National steeplechase.
• Punchestown Festival (April 2025): Concludes the Irish National Hunt season with several Grade 1 races.

Horses to Watch

Several horses are poised to make significant impacts this season:

• Galopin Des Champs: Trained by Willie Mullins, this horse aims for a third consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup victory.
• Constitution Hill: After recovering from a bout of colic, this horse is expected to dominate the 2-mile hurdle division.
• Lossiemouth: A five-year-old mare targeting the Champion Hurdle, set to compete against top contenders.
• Brighterdaysahead: Grade 1 winner expected to make a significant impact this season and already a strong fancy for the Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
• Ballyburn: Triple Grade 1 winner last term, who got everyone excited when winning comfortably at the Festival in March, before following up on his final two starts of the season.

Leading Trainers and Jockeys

The season features intense competition among top trainers and jockeys:

• Willie Mullins: Aims to maintain dominance with a strong stable of numerous Grade 1 horses.
• Paul Nicholls: Seeks a 15th Trainers’ Championship.
• Dan Skelton: Finished second last season and is looking to challenge for the top spot.
• Harry Cobden: The current British Champion Jump Jockey, aiming to defend his title.
• Sean Bowen: Close second in the Jockeys’ Championship and should go close in his bid to go one better.

Cheltenham Festival 2025

The Cheltenham Festival in March 2025 is the pinnacle of the National Hunt season, featuring four days of top-class racing. Key races include:

• Champion Hurdle: A premier hurdle race attracting the best two-mile hurdlers.
• Queen Mother Champion Chase: A Grade 1 steeplechase over two miles.
• Stayers' Hurdle: A three-mile hurdle race testing stamina.
• Cheltenham Gold Cup: The most prestigious race of the festival, a Grade 1 steeplechase over three miles and two and a half furlongs.

The festival is renowned for its competitive fields and is a highlight for trainers, jockeys, and racing enthusiasts.

Notable Changes and Developments

The Cheltenham Festival has announced significant changes for 2025, including altering key races like the Turners Novices' Chase and Cross Country Chase to handicaps, aiming to increase competition.

Additionally, Horse Racing Ireland has introduced a new series of National Hunt races beginning in January, restricting entries from top trainers to provide more opportunities for smaller trainers.

As the season progresses, fans can anticipate high-stakes competitions, emerging talents, and memorable moments that define National Hunt racing.

RaceShare’s favourite meetings of the year and the horse they’d most like to win

Poppy Holland:

My favourite race meeting of the year is the November Meeting at Cheltenham. For me, it signals the start of the National Hunt season proper, with top-class sport at the home of Jumps racing. There is no better racecourse in my opinion, and with a crisp autumn chill in the air surrounded by friends, it is a buzz like no other without the frenzy of Festival crowds.

The race I would most like to win is the Welsh National, purely for sentimental reasons. It was my earliest racing memory, watching a mud soaked Kendal Cavalier battle to win the 1998 renewal in my fathers arms at the track, as he gritted out his rivals, before welcoming him into the winners enclosure, having gone from beautiful dapple grey to a muddy wash. You need a horse with grit, determination and arduous staying capabilities to win a Welsh National which I think captures the essence of the Jumps game perfectly!

Geoffrey Pooley:

The race meeting I would most like to attend is anything at Cartmel. They only race there between May and August and it’s arguably the UK's most quixotic racecourse. In the heart of the Lake District, this tight track has an "infield" (as the Americans call it) inhabited by holidaymakers cooking barbecues and enjoying the racing. Despite there being only six fences on the circuit, it boasts the country's longest run-in of nearly half a mile (some of which is hidden from spectators by a line of huge trees!). The weather is usually glorious, the crowds flock, and the atmosphere is wonderful.

The race I would most like to win is the Champions Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival. It’s a wonderful meeting and anyone would love to own a winner there. The added bonus for me would be that, after accepting a very large offer for my horse, I could reinvest in a family holiday on the Amalfi coast and half a dozen horses to race exclusively at Cartmel.

Ash White:

The meeting I would most like to attend is the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, because I haven't experienced the buzz of the opening race before and the level of anticipation - when virtually the entire season comes down to what happens that week - is huge. It's also one of - if not the - best racedays in terms of quality of horse on show in the Jumps calendar.

The race I would most like to win is the Cheltenham Gold Cup - plain and simply because it’s the pinnacle of Jumps racing and, usually, the horses that win it are fondly remembered - more than most - by the racing fraternity forever.

It promises to be an exciting and memorable National Hunt season for racing enthusiasts.