The Cheltenham Festival might dominate the conversation every March, but it doesn’t mark the end of meaningful National Hunt action. Far from it.
As attention shifts away from Prestbury Park, the spring calendar serves up a series of high-quality meetings that can be just as revealing for punters assessing future stars, trainers plotting championship glory, and those tracking shifting horse race odds as targets become clearer and fields take shape.
From Aintree’s unique test to Ayr’s marathon staying chase and Sandown’s season finale, there’s plenty still at stake before the curtain comes down on another jumps campaign.
Irish Grand National Festival – 4-6 April
The Irish Grand National Festival is held at Fairyhouse Racecourse over Easter weekend, running from Saturday 4 April to Monday 6 April 2026.
The highlight is Easter Monday, when the Irish Grand National, Ireland’s richest jumps race, is run over a stamina-sapping 3 miles 5 furlongs.
Across the three days you can expect top-class National Hunt racing, including the Fairyhouse Gold Cup on the Sunday, with over €1.25 million in prize money on offer and fields packed with leading Irish trainers and jockeys.
Off the track, racegoers can enjoy a lively festival atmosphere with style, live music, hospitality packages, and family-friendly entertainment, making Fairyhouse a major social as well as sporting occasion.
Grand National Festival – 9–11 April
Then it’s all systems go for the Grand National Festival at Aintree. Three days of top-class racing in Merseyside culminate in the most famous steeplechase of them all, but the supporting cast is just as compelling.
Across the meeting, there are 11 Grade 1 contests, including the Aintree Bowl, Aintree Hurdle and Liverpool Hurdle, which often provide a fascinating contrast to their Cheltenham equivalents.
The flatter, speed-favouring nature of Aintree can turn Festival form on its head, giving beaten horses a chance to bounce back while exposing any Cheltenham winners who were perhaps flattered by the unique demands of the Cotswolds.
While many Cheltenham runners aim to back up their efforts just a few weeks later, others are deliberately kept fresh for this meeting, making Aintree a long-standing seasonal target in its own right.
Scottish Grand National Meeting – 17–18 April
One week later, the focus switches north to Ayr for the Scottish Grand National Meeting, another cornerstone of the late-season jumps calendar.
Saturday’s card alone features eight races and boasts a prize-money pot in excess of £500,000, underlining the importance of the fixture.
The Scottish Grand National itself remains one of the ultimate tests of stamina, often favouring progressive stayers rather than established stars.
In recent years, Willie Mullins has made this race his own, landing the last two renewals and using the prize money as a crucial weapon in his late-season assault on the British Trainers’ Championship, most notably at the expense of Dan Skelton.
For punters, this meeting is often where Cheltenham form is either strongly franked or decisively overturned, with horse racing results from Ayr shaping perceptions of staying chasers heading into the following season.
Jump Finale – 24–25 April
The Jump Finale at Sandown brings the curtain down on the National Hunt season, but it’s far more than a gentle sign-off.
This is where the Champion Jockey and Leading Trainer titles are officially decided after months of attrition.
Mullins has taken the British Trainers’ Championship back to Ireland for the last two seasons, but this time Skelton finally looks poised to hold on, having built a seemingly unassailable lead through depth and consistency rather than headline-grabbing Grade 1 wins.
In the jockeys’ standings, defending champion Sean Bowen leads the way convincingly, holding a near-100 winner advantage over his closest rival, Harry Skelton, at the time of writing.
On the track, the Grade 1 Celebration Chase tops the bill, supported by the Oaksey Steeple Chase, Select Hurdle and the Gold Cup Handicap Chase, races that often throw up horses worth following when the new campaign rolls around.
Looking Ahead
Cheltenham may provide the season’s biggest moments, but the weeks that follow are where titles are settled, reputations are reshaped, and early clues for next season begin to emerge.
For those willing to look beyond the Festival, the business end of the National Hunt season still has plenty to offer.
