The 2025-26 National Hunt season has produced four Grand National winners: Soldier In Milan at Fairyhouse, I Am Maximus at Aintree for the second time, and Kap Vert at Ayr on Saturday. After Punchestown concludes on May 3, the season is over. Here is what happens next and when jump racing returns.
What Remains This Season
Punchestown Festival: April 29 to May 3. Five Grade 1 races. The season's final championship week. After May 3, British National Hunt racing continues at a lower level through the summer but the major championship meetings are done until October.
Sandown Park's Jumps Season Finale in late April features the Bet365 Gold Cup — one of the most competitive staying handicap chases of the year and a favourite for trainers who have been building horses toward a late-season peak specifically for this race.
The Summer Flat Season
From May through September the British flat season dominates. Royal Ascot runs June 16-20. Epsom Derby is in June. Glorious Goodwood in July. York's Ebor Festival in August. Champions Day at Ascot closes the flat season in October. For those who follow jump racing through the winter, the summer is a period of preparation — watching the flat season form and beginning to assess which horses might switch codes for the jumping season.
When Jump Racing Returns
The new National Hunt season begins in earnest from October. The first major jump meeting is typically the Showcase Meeting at Cheltenham in October, which introduces the season's novice hurdlers and chasers and provides the first meaningful form lines of the new campaign. Entries for the 2027 Grand National open in November. Ante-post markets for the 2027 Cheltenham Festival begin to take shape from October.
The Horses to Watch
I Am Maximus returns for the 2027 Grand National aged 11. Kap Vert targets Aintree 2027. Iroko — who was second at Aintree this year after finishing fourth in 2025 — was described by connections as returning to "win next year." The 2027 Grand National has three serious pre-season narratives before the leaves have even fallen from the trees.
At Cheltenham, the 2027 Gold Cup will be defined by who challenges Gaelic Warrior's dominance. The Champion Hurdle picture will be shaped by what happens at Punchestown in the next two weeks.
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