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Horse racing fans welcomed 2023 with a bang as they celebrated January 1 with the New Year's Day Racing at Cheltenham. Not only that, there are more events scattered throughout the whole year. So, you could say that any horse racing fan will be fully booked with action-packed competitions.
Moreover, as horse racing evolves into a global sport, you can easily find races from the Cheltenham Festival in the UK to the Kentucky Derby in the US – the only thing you should be worried about are the order of these events. So to keep you updated here is your horse racing calendar for 2023:
Cheltenham Festival (March 14-17, 2023)
You'll be entertained for four days if you want to visit the pinnacle event of national racing in the UK – the Cheltenham Festival. Moreover, you can expect to create memories that will last you an entire lifetime, especially with 14 Grade One races from March 14 until March 17.The festival starts with 'Champion Day,' where viewers, fans, and reigning and future victors unite to celebrate jump racing. You wouldn't want to miss out on this day since all candidates are eager to gain a Jump Racing title. The second day still has lots of fun since you can witness the 'Queen Mother Champion Chase,' which consists of a steeplechase open to horses aged five years or older.
The third day still has plenty of races you could watch, but the feature race would be the Grade 1 Stayers' Hurdle. Lastly, the Gold Cup Day will end the festival with its most prestigious trophy, and the event winner will be crowned the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup winner of 2023.
For the festivities of Cheltenham and racing to back it up, it's expected that fans will gather with praise for the competition and stay while betting for their favorite horse. So if you want to back yours but don't know where to start, here's a betting guide by TVG to help you. You can easily place your mark on your horse by following a few simple steps.
Dubai World Cup (March 25, 2023)
If you're looking for a renowned flat racing event for thoroughbred horses, you're looking for the Dubai World Cup with a left-handed dirt track at the Meydan Racecourse. This Group One race occurs every year, and it will be on March 25, 2023. Moreover, you can find top-class competitions with eight races – from Northern Hemisphere four-year-olds, Southern three-year-olds, and even a purebred Arabian contest.Although this horse racing event was inaugurated only recently in 1999, the Dubai World Cup has become a renowned event, especially since it has a 12-million-dollar purse and is regarded as the world's richest horse race. With such a large pocket, the Dubai World Cup has become an event that offers top-tier entertainment for horse racing fans.
Grand National 2023 (April 13-15, 2023)
April also has something in store for you! Here, the Grand National is a horse racing event held annually at the Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. This race will surely make you hold onto your seat since it's a handicap steeplechase, which is a distance race where horses (who also carry diverse weights) need to jump through various fences and obstacles.Additionally, the course of Aintree's in Liverpool is challenging since it has larger fences than National Hunt tracks. With such, you could say that the complexity of the fences is what makes this race unique, and even more so, with horses and riders competing against each other. Just imagine plenty of horses trying to make their jump at different fences at the same time!
Guineas Festival (May 5-7, 2023)
If you want to see some of the world's top racehorses competing in the Classics (one of the oldest English races of the flat racing season), getting tickets to the Guineas Festival is best. Here, you can participate in two of the UK's Classic 5 Races – the 1000 Guineas and the 2000 Guineas.The 1000 Guineas and 2000 Guineas are run over one mile, with their difference being quite simple. The 1000 Guineas is restricted only to fillies, whereas the 2000 Guineas is open to both sexes but usually participated by colts.
The Kentucky Derby (May 6, 2023)
The Kentucky Derby is one of the oldest horse races in America, and it's been a renowned Grade one stake race for Thoroughbreds. Likewise, the Kentucky Derby is one of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing events, placed next to the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.Not only this, but the Kentucky Derby will mark your memories in only two minutes. As three-year-old thoroughbreds compete on a 1.23-mile-dirt track, this race is the fastest two minutes in sports. This derby is also known as the 'Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports' or 'Run for the Roses' as the winner of this race is draped with more than a hundred red roses.
