The road to Christmas: lowdown on the key contests prior to the festive period

Optimistic ante-post bets for the Cheltenham Festival are being lined up and the tweed cap is set to be dusted off. Unforgettable afternoons in the crisp and wintry British weather are almost upon us as the road to Christmas begins in earnest in late November.

Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase fixture teases us with a sprinkling of quality, while the November meeting at Cheltenham will provide countless clues for the big spring festivals. But the month leading up to Christmas is loaded with high-calibre contests from leading tracks that up the pace considerably. This is when the season really starts to take shape.

Jumps stars in search of testing conditions will finally get their ground as months of preparation begin to pay off. A selection of early season targets – headed by the Betfair Chase at Haydock – flood the calendar before the Christmas period and punters can start to dissect divisions with recent and relevant information.