Two grade-three heritage handicap hurdles added to Kelso Racecourse’s calendar for current jumps season

One is a new race offering £80,000 in prize money to be run in December and the other, to be staged next spring, is an existing one being upgraded from class two.

That new heritage handicap for this season – starting tomorrow, September 16, at Kelso with a six-race card headlined by the £15,000 In Memory of Rossie Maitland-Carew Handicap Chase – has been awarded to the Borders track by the British Horseracing Authority’s pattern race committee to fill a gap identified a gap in their programme of two-and-a-half mile hurdles.

It will be staged on Sunday, December 6, and is scheduled to be broadcast live on ITV Racing.

Its £80,000 prize kitty means it will rank among Kelso’s five biggest-bucks races alongside next March’s £120,000 Morebattle Hurdle, a fixture on the course’s calendar since 1984 but now being upgraded to grade-three heritage handicap status.

The other races making up that big-budget handful are December’s £50,000 Scottish Borders National and £70,000 Richard Landale Handicap Chase and £20,000 Paris Pike Novices’ Steeplechase.

Next year’s Morebattle Hurdle will be run on Saturday, March 6, and will once again offer a bonus of £100,000 if its winner goes on to claim a first-placed finish at 2027’s Cheltenham Festival south of the border in Gloucestershire.

Course managing director Jonathan Garratt is delighted to see the track adding further strings to its bow, saying: “We have consistently invested in Kelso’s race programme over a period of years and we’re really pleased that the quality of our best races is being recognised by the sport’s governing body.

“The racecourse operates with a not-for-profit ethos and the board of directors have always been keen to ensure that Kelso offers an aspirational programme that encourages racehorse owners and trainers in the north to invest in the sport.

“It’s important that we cater for the full spectrum of the horse population, from class five to Class one, and as well as investing in these high-value handicaps, we will ensure that all class-five races are staged at well above the minimum value.”

This week’s meeting is the first of 14 to be held before the new season wraps up next May and they’re forecast to offer more than £1.6m in prize money between them.

Next up will be a family fun raceday on Sunday, October 4, followed by 2026’s Edinburgh Gin Chase Day on Saturday, October 24. For details, go to https://kelso-races.co.uk/fixtures/