Famous Horse Races In Uk
Posted : admin On 3/27/2022From AP McCoy to Lester Pigott, horse racing has provided some of the greatest sportsman of their time.
A lot may be down to the calibre of horse beneath them, but the performance, knowledge and skill of a jockey can be the difference between winning and losing any horse race and that often separates the good jockeys from the world-class ones.
Despite their being a number of high-profile jockeys to have graced the sport, the highest accolade of them all is the Sports Personality of the Year Award and there’s only been one winner of the top prize – AP McCoy.
Results of enquiries (Neil Mulholland and John Jenkins) heard by the Disciplinary Panel on 19 January Neil Mulholland 1. The Disciplinary Panel of the British Horseracing Authority on 19 January 2017 held an enquiry to establish whether or not Neil Mulholland, a licensed trainer, had committed. Greatest horse racing win ever at history of horse racing. The ten biggest meets in US horse racing. By William Hill. Last Updated: 18th May 2018. From nightly racing at tracks such as Churchill Downs, Belmont and Monmouth Park taking UK punters through to the wee small hours of the morning, to some of the biggest events on the sporting calendar, there’s something for everyone in US horse racing. Set among 350 acres at the heart of the Cotswolds, Cheltenham racecourse showcases some of the very best National Hunt racing in the country. Cheltenham began racing in 1815 and has since grown into one of the largest racecourses, attracting crowds of up to 68,000. The highlight of Cheltenham’s racing fixtures is the Cheltenham Festival. Won 20 of 21 career races. Defeated 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton by 7 lengths in 1920. A protective owner and poor execution by a race starter may be the only reasons some people don’t place Man o’ War on the same level as Secretariat when it comes to the greatest racehorses in history.
However, throughout this guide we will look through in detail at the top jockeys to have played an instrumental role in UK horse racing as we know it today.
Top Jockeys in the UK
Flat Jockeys
Lester Pigott
Lester Pigott will go down as one of the greatest flat racing jockeys of all time with a staggering 4,493 career wins to his name.
He picked up 30 British Classic Race wins as a jockey, including five 2000 Guineas, nine Derby and eight St Leger wins in an illustrious career whilst also winning the flat racing Champion Jockey title on 11 occasions.
His first Derby winner came at the tender age of 18 on Never Say Die in 1954 and one of his more famous Derby wins was aboard the great Nijinsky.
Frankie Dettori
The enigmatic Italian is one of the most popular jockeys around and etched his name into the history books by riding all seven winners on British Champions Day in 1996 at Ascot, where the term ‘Magnificent Seven’ was coined.
Famous Flat Race Horses
He has ridden more than 500 Group winners and even the great Lester Pigott described him as the best jockey currently riding.
The now 48-year-old has 17 Classic wins to his name and back in 1990 became the first teenager since Pigott to ride 100 winners in a season and has been Champion Jockey on three occasions.
Ryan Moore
The three-time Champion Jockey Moore is one of the current top jockeys in the UK with 11 Classic wins.
Moore picked up his first winner as a 16-year-old for his grandfather Charlie and his first major win came in 2002 in the Cesarewitch on Miss Fara.
In 2004 he picked up 100 winners and £1million in prizemoney for the first time in his career at the end of the 2017 season he reached the 2,000-race milestone – the third most of all active jockeys behind Dettori and Joe Fanning, both who have been riding for a decade longer.
Hayley Turner
Turner is the most successful female jockey of the generation and goes down in history as the first female to have picked up 100 winners.
Her first major wins in her career came in 2011 when winning the July Cup at Newmarket on Dream Ahead before following that up with success in the Nunthorpe Stakes with Margot Did.
The 36-year-old was also given an OBE in the birthday honours list for her services to racing.
Read more about Turner and other female jockeys in UK horse racing here.
National Hunt Jockeys
AP McCoy
Tony McCoy will go down as many as the greatest jockey of our lifetime, and the winner of the Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2010.
He rode a record 4,358 winners during his 23-year career, but it amazingly took the Irishman 15 attempts before he won the Grand National aboard Don’t Push It to ensure he won every major national hunt race going at least once.
In total, he rode 31 Cheltenham Festival winners, the five editions of the Grand National – Welsh, Scottish, Midlands, Irish and Grand National – and was the 16-time Jump Jockey of the Year.
John Francome
John Francome picked up 1,138 winners over the course of his career and picked up the British Champion Jump Jockey award on seven occasions between 1976 and 1985.
That makes the now 66-year-old the third most successful National Hunt jump jockey of all time behind Tony McCoy
One honour that did escape Francome though was that he never won the Grand National and he has been dubbed the best jockey ever to have not won the race
After hanging up his saddle, he was awarded an MBE in 1986 for services to racing.
Peter Scudamore
Famous English Racehorses
Affectionately known as ‘Scu’, Scudamore was the eight-time Champion Jockey having picked up 1,678 winners.
He blazed a trail in the sport and held records for the greatest number of winners in a season – 221 in 1988-89 – and that was set before the development of the all-year round calendar.
Despite his brilliance, he went through his career without winning the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup or King George.
He has had some success in the National though, with connections to Little Polveir and Miinnehoma – winners of the Aintree race in 1989 and 1994 respectively.
Bryony Frost
Frost was born into the sport, with her father Jimmy, having won the Grand National on Little Polveir in 1983.
She recently picked up her 75th National Hunt winner in her career in November 2018 when aboard Marienstar and rode Frodon to victory at the Cheltenham Festival Trials Day at the weekend.
The 24-year-old also rose to prominence by becoming only the second female jockey to ride a Group One winner on Boxing Day in 2017, as well as recording a fifth-placed finish on Milansbar at the 2018 Grand National in April.
Read more about Frost and other female jockeys in UK horse racing here.
Famous Jockeys in the Cheltenham Festival
Without doubt Ruby Walsh will be one of the most famous jockeys of his time and his record 56 winners at the Cheltenham Festival will take a long time to be surpassed.
Alexander Banquet gave him his first winner at the Festival in 1998 and since 2004 he has been the meeting’s top jockey a staggering 11 times.
Richard Johnson would have had so many more titles and trophies had it not been for AP McCoy, having finished behind him 16 times in the race for the Champion Jockey title.
‘Dickie’ has 22 Festival winners to his name heading into this year’s meeting and has one every showpiece race at Cheltenham over the years.
Since 2006, Davy Russell has had a winner at the Festival every year and in 2014 it was a year to remember when winning the Triumph Hurdle on future Grand National winner Tiger Roll, Savello in the Grand Annual and Lord Windermere in the main race – the Gold Cup.
Richard Dunwoody was the meeting’s top rider in 1990 and 1996 with two winners in each year, having landed his first aboard his Grand National winner West Tip, and by the time he hung up his saddle he had picked up 18 Festival winners.
Famous Jockeys at the Grand National
Bob Champion will be one of the memorable Grand National winners, when aboard Alderniti in 1981. For the two previous years, Champion had been struggling with testicular cancer and his achievement did not go unnoticed – winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
Brian Fletcher is one of the most famous winners of the race, as twice he took the top prize on the great Red Rum having previously won it on Red Alligator in 1968.
Fletcher retired from racing in 1977, and that was the year Red Rum went on to win the race for a record third time – with Tommy Stack taking over the reins.
Unfortunately, Fletcher passed away aged just 69 on 12th January 2017, but he will always be remember for his National successes.
Leighton Aspell (below) may be a veteran of the sport these days, but it hasn’t stopped him racking up the winners and he will go down in Grand National history.
In 2014 he won the race on Pineau de Re, and just 12 months later he became the first jockey since Fletcher to make it back-to-back National winners, and only the third since World War II.
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Horse racing is one of the oldest and most popular sports
there is, not to mention one of the most exciting. There are
many different racecourses around the world with literally
thousands of horse races taking place throughout the year. The
sport has a long association with gambling and horse race
betting is very common, so the majority of horse races attract a
fair amount of attention, even if it’s just from betting
enthusiasts. There are certain horse races and events that
really stand out, and these regularly command large
international audiences.
The most famous horse races are huge sporting events;
sizable prize money is often at stake for the winners, along
with a great deal of prestige and glory. Jockeys and trainers
look forward to competing in such races, and owners love nothing
more than seeing their horses run. These are the major races
that are most often watched and bet on by people who only have
an interest in horse racing a couple of times of year. Such is
their great appeal. Below we provide information on the most
famous horse racing events in the world:
- US Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
- Other Horse Races in the United States
- UK Horse Racing Triple Crown
- British Classics
- Other UK Racing Events
- The Melbourne Cup
- The Dubai World Cup
- Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
- More Famous Horse Races
US Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the United States
is a series of three races, arguably the three most famous in
the country. The series starts each year in early May with the
Kentucky Derby, a horse race with a long tradition dating back
to the nineteenth century. Later in the same month, the
Preakness Stakes is run at the Pimlico Racecourse in Maryland.
The third and final race in the series is the
Belmont Stakes,
which takes place in June in New York.
These three races are also known collectively as the American
Classic Races, and any horse that wins all three in the same
year is said to have won the Triple Crown. This is a feat that
has been achieved by very few.
There’s actually a number of horse racing triple crowns
around the world. For more details, please visit the following
page:
Horse Racing Triple Crowns.
Other Horse Races in the United States
The three horse races mentioned above are widely considered
to be the most prestigious in the United States. There are many
other races that take place each year in America, however, and
many are Grade I: the highest standard of race in the country.
Some particularly well-known races are the Hollywood Derby, the
Kentucky Oaks, the Arkansas Derby, and the Florida Derby. These
races do not attract quite the same attention as the Triple
Crown races, but they are important in their own right.
There’s one other American race that warrants specific
mention, and that is the Breeders’ Cup Classic. This
Thoroughbred race has the highest prize purse of all US horse
races, currently at $5 million, and is one of the richest races
in the world. It takes place annually as part of the Breeders’
Cup World Championship, which is held at a different racecourse
each year. For detailed information on this high profile race,
please visit the
Breeders’ Cup Classic page.
UK Horse Racing Triple Crown
The English Triple Crown Series was the original Triple Crown
and is older than the US version. It was first recognized back
in 1853 and was the inspiration for other Triple Crown series in
various parts of the world. The three races that make up the
English, or British, Triple Crown are among the most famous flat
races not just in Britain, but internationally.
The series begins with the
2,000 Guineas Stakes, which takes
place at Newmarket Racecourse in late April or early May. The
next race is the
Epsom Derby in June, run at the Epsom Downs
Racecourse. Finally, in September, comes the
St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster Racecourse. Just like the US Triple Crown, the British
Triple Crown is not often won. The last horse to do so was
Nijinsky II back in 1970, and that was only the 14th time it had
ever been done.
British Classics
The three horse races that make up the UK Triple Crown are
all also British Classics, a collective term referring to the
five major flat races that take place each year. The 1,000
Guineas Stakes is also a British Classic and takes place at the
same race meeting as the 2,000 Guineas Stakes each year. The
final British Classic is the Epsom Oaks, which takes place in
early June as part of the Epsom Derby Festival.
Other UK Racing Events
Horse racing has a rich history in the United Kingdom, and
there are several world famous horse racing events that take
place each year in this region.
The Grand National, for example,
is one of the most well-known jump races in the world that takes
place at Aintree Racecourse each year. The
Cheltenham Festival
is an annual race meeting that practically has cult status, and
the Cheltenham Racecourse attracts tens of thousands of
spectators during the four-day event. Hundreds of thousands more
watch these races on television, particularly the main one being the
Cheltenham Gold Cup. Other popular horse racing festivals in the
UK include the
Royal Ascot Festival and
Glorious Goodwood.
The Melbourne Cup
Horse racing is huge in Australia, and horse races don’t
come a lot bigger than the Melbourne Cup. It has been held
annually in Australia since 1861, and it’s one of the biggest
sporting events in the country. Taking place in November, the
Melbourne Cup Day is a national holiday. For further information
on this race, please visit the following page:
The Melbourne
Cup.
The Dubai World Cup
The Dubai World Cup has not been around for very long
compared to most other classic horse races, but it has
established itself as one of the most important races in the
world today. This is due in no small part to the fact that it’s
the richest horse race in the world with a prize pool of $10
million. It’s run annually on a synthetic surface at the Meydan
Racecourse. For more details, please see the following page:
The
Dubai World Cup.
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is a French horse race held at
the Longchamp Racecourse in early October each year.
Affectionately known by many as The Arc, this race has a prize
pool of around $5 million. This flat race has been run since
1920, and it attracts an international audience in the millions. For
more information on this race, please visit
Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe.
More Famous Horse Races
The races we have discussed above are without question some
of the most famous horse races in the world, but there are many
more. In Ireland, for example, there are a number of major races
each year, such as the Irish Grand National, the Guinness Gold
Cup, and the Irish Derby. We have already mentioned the
Melbourne Cup, but Australia is host to other big races such as
the Australian Cup, the Australian Derby, and the Australian
Oaks.
In the same part of the world, you also have the New Zealand
Derby in Auckland, New Zealand. Horse racing has also become
much more high-profile in Asia; many countries in the region
are home to some big races. For example, the Japan Cup is run at
the Tokyo Racecourse each year with a prize pool of several
million dollars.