HORSES FIVE YEARS OLD AND ABOVE GET A FULL DAY AT LEICESTER A few days to go before The Festival and the juices are up for all the riders, trainers and horses. The excitement is hitting an all-time high as fans are still hoping bans could be lifted in time for at least a partial appearance on the stands. Everyone is hyped after a blank year in 2020, and will no doubt be ready to make good use of Cheltenham offers with Betfred to spike up the action come race day. Before all the fun and adrenaline of March 16th, Leicester will be one of the track supplying pre-Festival entertainment, as horses get closer to their peak conditioning. The week leading up to Friday’s run is expected to be dry for the most part, but picking up in rain around Wednesday as the light showers of Spring wet the field. To be noted that the track distances have been increased following the removal of rails and the going is soft.

The first run of the day will kick off at twenty minutes after 2 PM, with the RACING TV PROFITS RETURNED TO RACING HANDICAP STEEPLECHASE, a Class 3 race with 12,200 GBP on the line. The rating for the horses, aged five years and above, will be 0 to 140, and their distance will be two miles, four furlongs, and twenty-five yards. Twenty-five horses will take to the fields, over 90% of them, geldings. Just before the close of the hour, the BET AT racingtv.com BEGINNERS’ STEEPLECHASE will enter the fray as the second run of the day. For a beginners’ race, the run will still be a Class 3 and command a pot of 12,200 GBP. Over a distance of a mile, seven furlongs, and two hundred and five yards, seven geldings, five years old and above will do battle. Next up will be the BOSCASPORTS TRANSFORMING RETAIL BETTING DISPLAYHANDICAP STEEPLECHASE, for horses five years old and above. The race, a Class 4 affair, will be run over a distance of a mile, seven furlongs, and two hundred and one yards.

Horses will have to be rated between 0 and 110, and the prize money will be 8,035 GBP. Barely rested after hitting 4 PM, the EVERY RACE LIVE ON RACING TV HANDICAP STEEPLECHASE will be next on the clock, a Class 5 run of two miles, four furlongs, and twenty-five yards, as twenty-four horses gun it out for 6, 130 GBP, and more conditioning. The field will be largely geldings, rated at 0 to 100. At half-past the hour, the BOSCASPORT NO.1 DIGITAL BETTING SHOP DISPLAY HANDICAP STEEPLECHASE will set 20 five-year-olds and above on a run of two miles, six furlongs, and a hundred and fifty-one yards. The horses must be rated 0 to 105, and the winner gets 6,130 GBP. The last race of the day will be another Class 5, the THRUSTERS OPEN HUNTERS’ STEEPLECHASE, running over a mile, seven furlongs, and two hundred and one yards. The pot will be 4,600 GBP, and horses will be aged five years olds and above.