“A day at Cheltenham Racecourse”
Cheltenham is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the edge of the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Cheltenham is famous for its horse racing events especially the one known as the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The winner of this race gets a chance to take part in all four major races in North America and is considered one of the toughest horse racing events in the world.
The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most popular horse racing festivals in the world. The festival originated from a meeting at the Turf Hotel, Cheltenham in 1815. Back then it was quite small but now has become extremely famous all over the world. It usually lasts for 5 days and consists of four stages: the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup , the St. James’ Palace Stakes and the National Hunt Chase.
The festival is held in March at Prestbury Park in Cheltenham. This park was built by Lord Prestbury after whom the place is named. The major event of this festival is that it lasts for five days. So, people who are interested in betting or horseracing can spend at least five consecutive days here. The festival stage is set-up just behind the winning post of racing track. This place is called as Winners Enclosure and only the people who have tickets to watch the races are allowed to enter this area.
The Cheltenham Festival was first opened to public in 1927 and the attendance then reached 45,000 people who came to watch the races. Nowadays it is estimated that about 300,000 spectators come here each year due to popularization via the media. The most important event held here is the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The cup was first introduced in 1922 and it has become one of the key events at this festival since then. It is also nicknamed as “The Blue Riband” of National Hunt racing. People who are interested in betting or horseracing can place bets with the help of bookmakers. At this festival, you can place your bets with any bookmaker.
Cheltenham is one of the best racing venues in the world, but only recently has it becomes good enough to host National Hunt Festival (meeting for steeplechase races). Before that time Cheltenham was just a small village with not much remarkable history. Modern Cheltenham started to develop after 1815 when a local man named George Smith started to build a new type of racing arena on his farm. The first race was organized there in 1819, thus Cheltenham Racecourse is one of the oldest racecourses still operating today.
The new course immediately became popular among local horse owners who wanted to have closer races without travel too far from their farms. John Pratt and his family became the most powerful and influential people who were behind all major changes made in Cheltenham. They took this responsibility for more than a century and the club they created still operates today as Jockey Club. During the last two centuries, Cheltenham has changed much. First changes were necessary so new racecourse could meet the standards of modern racing. After building new stands and enclosures, Cheltenham Racecourse hosted its first National Hunt Festival in 1925. It was a huge success because the racecourse attracted a large number of visitors to the town which was good both for the town’s economy and its image, especially among aristocrats who liked to spend their holidays there. This prosperity caused the development of some prestigious hotels, new shopping streets and some other social buildings.
From that moment on Cheltenham Racecourse became one of the most popular British racing venues. In fact it is very nice place with excellent facilities for racegoers who arrive from all over Britain to watch races from National Hunt Festival which is still held there every March. Among other popular events there, we should also mention International Festival which is held every July.
To be honest, Cheltenham Racecourse seems to have a problem with its image because it is often presented as one of the most beautiful racecourses in Britain. This is certainly true but visitors who come here for the first time are always surprised by how small it actually is, especially because of the facilities provided. Some people even claim that this racecourse has an unfair advantage over its competitors because of all the modern stands and facilities which are built there, but only time will tell if this is really the case.
Horse Racing is a very popular event in UK and Ireland. The Horse racing events are held every year throughout the country. Pageant of a half mile, Derby, Royal Ascot and Epsom races are some of the famous horse crossing tracks in UK and Ireland. These race events attract a large number of visitors from all over the world. This is a very big entertainment industry in UK and Ireland.
Horse racing events are also held in parts of Europe, North America and Australia. In other countries, these horse racing events are not as popular as compared to UK and Ireland. Horse racing provides huge entertainment to people throughout the year. People from all age groups enjoy horse racing events. There are many horses racing clubs in UK and Ireland where people can join the existing members to watch horse racing. People also enjoy betting on horse races. The horses need to be in top physical condition in order to win any of these events and their owners make sure that they are well fed before the race. But most importantly a racehorse must have a sound pedigree.
Racehorses can be divided into two categories: those who are fast from the flat and those who are good at jumping. Flat horses tend to be bigger, thicker built animals with strong shoulder muscles designed for strength rather than speed. The thoroughbred tends to have both speed and jump ability as it comes from a long line of strong, hardworking animals bred for specific purposes.
One of those purposes was war. In medieval England, the destriers were used as a form of transport to carry knights into battle and then fight alongside them on horseback. The actual word ‘thoroughbred’ comes from this time where it meant ‘strong breed’ or ‘work horse’. Over time the breed became refined for speed, endurance and jumping. Later on, more thoroughbreds were needed to meet the demand for racing horses which is why the thoroughbred has become the most popular breed of racehorse in England today.
Racehorses are bred to be fast but that doesn’t mean all fast horses are thoroughbreds. There are horses that can run fast over short distances but then start slowing down after a while. These are known as sprinters and they tend to be more compact than the thoroughbred, with shorter legs and heavier bones designed for speed rather than power or endurance which is what you need for racing over longer distances. Sprinters will oftentimes find other venues for their talent such as harness racing or polo.
Racehorses are usually lighter than workhorses due to the fact that they cover more ground in a shorter amount of time than normal animals. They also tend to have longer legs, smaller heads and leaner figures which help them travel speedily over different types of terrain.
A thoroughbred’s pedigree is very important because it can tell you a lot about what kind of horse you’re dealing with and give an indication as to how they might achieve at certain tasks. Pedigrees usually go back at least four generations and most modern breeding programs hope that they will keep producing the same type of horses for each generation.
For a thoroughbred to be able to race well, it should have speed from its sire and endurance from its dam. This allows the horse to have the best of both worlds when it comes down to being competitive in races. Horses with a lot of stamina will stick around longer than other horses allowing them to get further ahead in the field.
Good racing bloodlines can also make a horse more appealing to buyers and breeders. Many of the big racehorses, such as Man o’ War and Secretariat, went on to become successful sires. Their progeny were able to achieve tremendous success in their own right thanks to their strong ancestry and careful breeding programs.
The Cheltenham Racecourse is one of the most celebrated racecourses in the world. Located in Gloucestershire, it was established 1815 and to this day remains a popular horse racing venue with six races every year. Known as “The Home of Jump Racing”, there are 17 fences on the flat course including water jumps at both ends for three miles (5,280 m) out before an additional uphill hurdle near the finish line which can be jumped or bypassed by runners depending on preference or ability. This unique setting has made Cheltenham Racecourse famous worldwide and attracts more than 300,000 visitors each year who enjoy watching horses compete on these challenging courses!
