Horse racing is the second most popular spectators sport in the UK. It is second only behind football. There are more than 6-million loyal racing fans in Britain alone. The fan base is split, 60% men and 40% women.
Further afield, horse racing is very popular in France, Australia, the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. In Japan, fans have been known to sleep in a queue waiting for big events.
Place your bets
People also enjoy betting on the horse races. Part of this could be due to the constantly changing odds. You could have better odds of winning the lottery. Anytime you are betting on a race, you are betting on the performance of a live animal and a human being. The way they feel, think, react, and behave. Everything that breathes is affected by the things around them. Every living creature gets tired, distracted, or makes a split-second choice that changes everything. There are great odds and probabilities, but never a sure-thing
Major Horse Racing Events Spring & Summer 2021
The following events are scheduled throughout the summer months of 2021. These are the biggest and most profitable events of the year. You won't want to miss them.
The Grand National, Aintree, Liverpool, 8-10 April 2021
Prizes: Grand National £1,000,000
The Grand National is the most recognized race in the world. It is said that half of the nation stops to place a bet when the Grand National office sweepstakes are made. People up and down the country, cheer on the horses. The three-day festival that leads up to the race is almost as famous as the race itself.
It takes the hardiest and best-trained horses to compete in the Grand National. The 30-fence UK racing course is one of the toughest in the nation. There are 40 runners in the race. Tiger Roll has come out on top the last two times and hopes to win his third win in 2021.
Guineas Festival, Newmarket, Suffolk, 1-2 May 2021
Prizes: 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas – £500,000 each
The Guineas are regarded as two of the most prestigious UK horse racing fixtures in the UK and all around the world. Previous winners include big names in the industry such as Frankel, Sea The Stars, and Dancing Brave. The 1,000 Guineas follows a day later and is open to three-year-old fillies. These races set the for the Flat season.
Epsom Derby Festival, Epsom, Surrey, 4-5 June 2021
Prizes: The Oaks – £500,000 and The Derby – £1,500,000
Another festival and another two of the British Classics up for grabs. The Epsom Derby Festival features both The Oaks and The Derby where horses have their one shot at immortality. Each ran over the same 1 mile 4 furlongs and 10 yards on the undulating Epsom course. With The Oaks only open to three-year old fillies, recent superstars Love and Enable have claimed their glory, while Frankie Dettori is the leading jockey in the race with five wins.
The Derby has long been regarded as the best Flat race in the world. It is almost Britain's richest race.
Eclipse Summer Festival, Sandown Park, Surrey, 2-3 July 2021
Prizes: Eclipse Stakes – £750,000
This festival is named for a successful racehorse of the same name. The horse won 18 races from his 18 starts before he went on to a successful career as a sire.
The King George Weekend, Ascot, Surrey, 23-24 July 2021
Prizes: King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes – £1,250,000
The King George weekend is headlined by the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. It is Britain's most prestigious open-age Flat race and always brings the most highly acclaimed and respected horses in the industry. The 1975 running is frequently described as the race of the century and more recently in 2019 the King George will live long in the memory as two of the best, Enable and Crystal Ocean, fought to the finish for victory.
Glorious Goodwood, Goodwood, Sussex, 27-31 July 2021
Prizes: Sussex Stakes – £1,000,000
Glorious Goodwood is a five-day festival like no other. The superb racing combined with the Sussex sunshine make it a staple of the UK horse racing fixtures calendar. Last year star sprinter Battaash eclipsed his own track record at this meeting as he claimed the King George Stakes for the fourth consecutive year in just under 56 seconds.
Ebor Festival, York, Yorkshire, 18-21 August 2021
Prizes: Juddmonte Stakes – £1,000,000
The Ebor Festival is a major four-day event and one of the major UK horse racing meetings of the Flat season. The festival begins with the Group 1 Juddmonte International, a race won by the legendary Frankel and is followed by the Yorkshire Oaks the next day. Friday's feature race is the Nunthorpe. Battaash has won the feature race for the past two years.
St. Leger Festival, Doncaster, Yorkshire, 8-11 September 2021
Prizes: St. Leger – £700,000
The feature race of the St. Leger Festival is the world's oldest classic horse race. Leading stables from across the country bring their finest and best. This race features some of the greatest horses in history. This is another of the British Classics. Last year's winner Galileo Chroma gave trainer Joseph O'Brien, the honor of becoming only the second man in history to have won the race as both a jockey and trainer.
British Champions Day, Ascot, Surrey, 16 October 2021
Prizes: Champions Stakes – £1,300,000
We round off the action back at Ascot, the iconic UK horse racing venue, for the final day of the British Flat season. There's less actual royalty on this occasion but that doesn't mean that the equine royalty doesn't turn up. The kings and queens of the turf arrive to battle over one of the most valuable days of racing in Britain, with four Group Ones up for grabs it really is the perfect finale.
The 2021 season promises to be one to remember. Make plans to attend these great festivals and races for a wonderful experience.
