Welsh Racing Festival 2026: A Look At Chepstow’s Three-Day Meeting To Kickstart The Jumps Season

The 2026 Welsh Racing Festival will take place from Friday, 9 October to Sunday, 11 October 2026 at Chepstow Racecourse and William Hill previews the opening meeting of the new jumps season.

As the official curtain-raiser for the Welsh National Hunt jump racing season, this three-day event is regarded by many National Hunt racing fans as the start of the new season generally and is a very popular event in terms of betting.

DAY 1 – FRIDAY 9th OCTOBER

Day One of the Welsh Racing Festival features an excellent card, including two of the most anticipated contests of the season opener:

• The Persian War Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 2): A prestigious contest that has produced future stars of the sport, this race is a must-watch for fans eager to see the next generation of champions.
• The Veterans’ Chase: Always a crowd favourite, this race celebrates seasoned chasers as they battle it out over fences in a thrilling, action-packed contest.

DAY 2 – SATURDAY 10th OCTOBER

Day Two heralds yet another day of top class jumps action with plenty of races for the casual Saturday punter to get stuck into:

• The £75,000 Silver Trophy: First run in 1988, the race is widely regarded by horse racing punters and trainers as the first major handicap hurdle of the British autumn jump calendar. Because of its distance and large field, it traditionally acts as a “launch pad” for high-quality horses for the forthcoming season.

DAY 3 – SUNDAY 11th OCTOBER

Day Three sees the festival come to a climax with the running of the Welsh Champion Hurdle. The iconic and historic National Hunt jump race serves as the crown jewel of the Sunday card and there will be an interesting market for it in our horse racing betting.

• The Welsh Champion Hurdle: The race was first established at Chepstow Racecourse in 1969. In its heyday, it was traditionally held on Easter Monday.
• Due to dwindling field sizes, the race dropped off the calendar in 2003. It was successfully revived in 2011 at Chepstow’s sister track, Ffos Las Racecourse in Carmarthenshire.
• As part of a major investment to launch the three-day Welsh Racing Festival, the historic race was officially transferred back to Chepstow in 2025.

What happened at the 2025 Welsh Racing Festival?

The feature races across the weekend delivered thrilling action and saw notable performances:

• Grade 2 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle: Sticktotheplan (15/2) Olly Murphy & Sean Bowen: Travelled strongly from the rear before making smooth headway to hit the front before the final flight, pulling clear convincingly.
• The Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle: Rambo T (12/1) Olly Murphy & Sean Bowen: Secured a major double for Murphy and Bowen by edging out the 50/1 outsider Paggane in a frantic finish.
• The Welsh Champion Hurdle: Celtic Dino (6/4 FAV) Sam Thomas & Dylan Johnston: Kept the historic trophy in Wales by defying top-weight to win as the crowd favourite, giving owner Dai Walters consecutive victories in the event.

Check out our sports betting for all the latest prices on the Welsh Racing Festival once they are compiled.

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*