Racing Post

Are attendances set to bounce back at the Cheltenham Festival? That is just one of the questions examined in this week's edition of The Front Page. Hopes are high that falling crowd numbers at the sport's biggest meeting could become a thing of the past after Cheltenham's New Year's Day fixture was a sellout for the first time in its history. With attendances having also risen at Kempton, Ascot, Leopardstown and elsewhere across the Christmas and new year period, the sport is enjoying a positive start to 2026. Lee Mottershead, Lewis Porteous and Scott Burton look at that recent development and also discuss Betfred's decision to so far reject a new media rights deal with a collection of British racecourses. The team debate what that means and consider a move by campaigners to persuade government that gambling advertising should be banned. In another packed edition, Lee, Lewis and Scott also salute Billy Loughnane after the young riding sensation set a major new record.

New Year. Big races. Sharp analysis. James Stevens, Jonny Pearson and Harry Wilson dive into the New Year’s Day action from Cheltenham and Musselburgh, breaking down the key races and highlighting the main players on a red-hot card at Jump racing HQ. Plus, two cracking contests from Musselburgh in a fast-paced, no-nonsense preview of the day's standout racing.

The racing year’s biggest stories get wrapped up and debated in a special hour-long episode of The Front Page. Willie Mullins, Oisin Murphy, Rachael Blackmore and Frankie Dettori all come under the spotlight as Lee Mottershead, Chris Cook and Jonathan Harding reflect on the furore surrounding Kempton’s future, Constitution Hill’s fall from grace and British racing’s success in axing the tax. As well as reflecting on a year of huge-priced winners and unlikely success for pacemakers, the team looks back on some of their favourite races from 2026 and asks what we can expect from the new year.

James Stevens is joined by Jonny Pearson, Harry Wilson and Unibet's Brett Williams to provide their best bets for the Festive racing period. Let us know in the comments who your best bet is this christmas period! 

Did we see the next true star of the staying hurdling scene running for JP McManus at Ascot on Saturday? But if we did, which horse was it? Lee Mottershead, Maddy Playle and Matthew Rennie reflect on the performances of Impose Toi, Honesty Policy and some of the weekend's other most notable performers in the latest edition of The Front Page. Looking forward, the team considers who will win this week's spectacular King George and reflects on how many more King Georges will be run at Kempton. In this festive edition we also look back on last week's 300-1 and 250-1 winners and ask why so many horses now seem to be scoring at huge odds.