A Great Day Out
The Racing Year
Diaries at the ready – here are the seasonal must-do events for racegoers in 2012...
SPRING
•The Cheltenham Festival is staged over four days from March 13, climaxing with the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup. This year, Kauto Star will attempt to win a third time.
•The Flat season traditionally starts at Doncaster, this year on March 31. The historic Lincoln Handicap race is considered the first leg of the ‘spring double’ – along with the Grand National.
•The John Smith's Grand National at Aintree is the most famous Jump race in the world. Red Rum remains the only horse to win three times.
•All eyes for Flat fans are on Newmarket on May 5 and 6 for the QIPCO Guineas Festival featuring the 2000 and 1000 Guineas, the first of five races known as Classics and the first of the British Champions Series races of the Flat season.
SUMMER
•June 1 and 2 sees the Investec Derby Festival at Epsom. The most prestigious Flat race in Britain, The Derby is often referred to as the premier Classic.
•Royal Ascot is held from June 19 to 23, and as much focus will be on the fashion as the racing, which is preceded each day by the Royal horse-drawn procession. The highlight is the Gold Cup on Thursday.
•Glorious Goodwood (July 31 to August 4) is a more relaxed affair, with Panama hats the order of the day.
•Summer festivals continue at York on August 22-25 with the Ebor meeting. The ancient Ebor Handicap is the centrepiece on Saturday, but the opening day’s Juddmonte International is one of the biggest races of the season.
AUTUMN
•All eyes are on Doncaster for the St Leger, the world’s oldest Classic and the culmination of the three-day fixture that runs from September 13-15.
•The richest day’s racing in Britain comes at Ascot on October 20 with the staging of QIPCO British Champions Day, first held last year in a new innovation that saw it as the glittering finale of the season-long British Champions Series
WINTER
• Boxing Day is all about Kempton Park and the William Hill King George VI Chase, a three-mile race over fences won by the greatest horses in the sport.
