It’s fair to say that over the years certain horses become specialists at Haydock Park races. Royale Pagaille fits the bill as he tries to win the Peter Marsh Chase yet again off topweight on Merseyside on Saturday, 18 January following on from retaining his Betfair Chase crown. Royale Pagaille is now an 11-year-old, but …

The inaugural Berkshire Winter Million kicks off at Windsor races on Friday, 17 January after the fixture transferred from Lingfield Park. Horse racing fans can get a three-day ticket across the meeting, which also includes entry to the Clarence House Chase card at Ascot on Saturday, for just £40. Our focus here is on the …

Doubts exist as to whether or not Kempton races on Saturday, 11 January can survive freezing overnight temperatures. Frost and ice remains in the UK weather forecast until after the meeting.  If Kempton Park can beat the cold snap, then the Grade 2 Silviniaco Conti Chase headlines this seven-race card. The big betting race, meanwhile, …

Given the current cold snap throughout the British Isles, wintry weather may claim the Lanzarote Hurdle card at Kempton. Nonetheless, it is one of the only jumps meetings with any prospects of defying frost and going ahead on Saturday, 11 January. This 2m 5f Class 2 handicap hurdle is one of the big betting races …

A New Year means Sandown racing action early on in January, and the first Saturday of the month means the Esher track hosting action. This card contains the Veterans’ Chase Series Final and a Listed hurdle for mares. While there perhaps isn’t the lustre to this meeting it once had when the Tolworth Hurdle took …

The New Year’s Day races around the UK and Ireland mark the end of a busy festive period in the sport. There are eight National Hunt horse racing meetings in the British Isles on 1 January, plus an All-Weather Flat card. That is an awful lot, second only to Boxing Day the previous week in …

The Leopardstown Christmas Festival comes to a close on Sunday, 29 December with one final Grade 1 contest of the calendar year in Ireland. That is none other than the December Hurdle, run under the sponsored title of Neville Hotels Hurdle for this edition. It features a Morgiana Hurdle rematch between State Man and the …

The Leopardstown racing at the Christmas Festival continues on the penultimate day of the meeting this Saturday, 28 December. Headlining the latest card from this fixture is the Grade 1 Savills Chase featuring a John Durkan rematch between Fact To File and Galopin Des Champs. This particular date is a huge one for jumps horse …

The Challow Hurdle card is the last meeting of Newbury races in 2024, bringing to an end another fabulous calendar year of action at the Berkshire track. It’s fitting that the course’s only Grade 1 event in the National Hunt code takes place on the last Saturday before New Year, which falls on 28 December …

The biggest day of the year at Chepstow races is their Welsh National card on Friday, 27 December. This is one of those classic fixtures and Premier Racedays that punters cannot ignore. South Wales takes over from Kempton as the main meeting in the UK during a hectic festive schedule between Christmas and New Year. …