a day at the races

No, it's not about the great Marx Brothers film of the same name, but a look at Horses and Horseracing.

Horseracing as a sport can trace its history back to ancient Babylon, Syria and Egypt as well as the Chariot Racing of Ancient Rome.

Over the decades there have been many famous horses such as Arkle, Golden Miller, Red Rum and Desert Orchid, that have passed into legend even among non race-goers.

Red Rum won his 1st Grand National race at Aintree where he came from 30 lengths behind, to finally beat his rival Crisp by three quarters of a length in what many consider to have been the greatest Grand National in history. Red Rum went onto win an unprecedented three Grand Nationals in total.

Golden Miller is the most successful Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner and won consecutive races between 1932 and 1936, he is also the only horse to have the won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and The Grand National in the same year - an amazing feat.

There are Horseracing courses all over the U.K. from Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey to Perth Racecourse which is its most northerly. There is racing all year round and the racing calendar has many great events such as the Cheltenham Festival, the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot. We are fortunate here in Monmouthshire to have a racecourse at Chepstow, where in 1933 Gordon Richards, a multi award winning jockey, won 11 consecutive races over a two day race meeting.

As with horses there are jockeys that are famous amongst race-goers and non race-goers alike.

Lester Piggott is one of the most well known flat racing jockeys of all time with 4,493 wins which include winning the Epsom Derby 11 times.

Dick Francis was champion jockey in 1953 but it wasn't until he retired from racing in 1957 that he turned his talents to writing, firstly his autobiography and then to a world renowned series of books set in the world of racing.

Tony McCoy unlike our two previous jockeys is a 'Jump racing' jockey and has been the champion jockey continuously since 1995. He has taken part in over 13,000 races and so far has ridden over 3,500 winners a remarkable achievement.

This is just a small insight into the world of Horseracing, it doesn't matter in the end which racecourse you go to, the excitement is palpable as the roar goes up for the 1st race of the day.

Contributed by Theresa.

(Published 1st Oct 2012)