THE gift of an experience is becoming more popular as a Christmas present – be it a music concert/festival, city break, golf trip or football match. Why not extend that to a racing experience? A few years ago, after a few leaks got through the family ‘Secret Santa’, my cousin, two uncles and I went to Cheltenham for the Tuesday and we still talk about how good a trip it was to this day. You have the anticipation before and then the event itself, so it’s a great value present and if you can get a few in the family involved, it can be great craic as a surprise on Christmas Day itself. Here are three options you can consider.

Dublin Racing Festival, Leopardstown, February 3rd & 4th

This relatively new weekend festival goes from strength to strength with its eight Grade 1 races used by Irish jumps trainers as the perfect platform into Cheltenham. It’s imperative viewing and a buzzy atmosphere from an enthusiastic city crowd is a given. Of course, people travel up from all around the country and outside of it too, with a growing interest from British racegoers who are more aware than ever that the best jumpers around are housed on this side of the Irish Sea. Basic tickets are €30 for each day but you have loads of options to enhance the experience by spending a bit more. Leopardstown also offers some very attractive Race & Stay packages that are very handy and go from €159 per person - not bad at all for Dublin when you consider you have your tickets sorted as well. You can browse all those options on their website.

Cheltenham Festival, March 12th - 15th

As Hector Ó hEochagáin once said, the Cheltenham Festival is the Mecca of National Hunt Racing and an absolute must for any jumps fan who has yet to grace Prestbury Park. The earlier in the week the better for this writer, as you get a more purist crowd in for the Champion Hurdle day (Tuesday) and Queen Mother Champion Chase day (Wednesday). The commercialisation of the festival has led to a more casual fan attending closer to the weekend and Friday it can get a bit manic with Gold Cup Friday usually selling out. Cheltenham is also expensive, for a ticket (£100 for Club Enclosure which is recommended) and for accommodation. The latter could be more valuable as a present as it has become very difficult to find places to stay in town. Three to four months out, you might have a chance. Otherwise, lots of the locals get out for the week and Air BnB their properties which might be the best way to go, or you can look at towns/cities nearby like Bristol.

Aintree Grand National Festival, April 11th - 13th

If your recipient has already done Cheltenham, why not go for Aintree? Specifically the three-day Grand National meeting in mid April. There will be top class action over the three days building up to the crescendo that is the National itself on Saturday and next year is a historic one, the first since the field has been modified to 34 runners. Aintree offers an amazing variation of tickets so it’s worth having a look at their website. The ‘Queen Mother Roof Package’ (£85) is probably sufficient. Going to Aintree is also better from an accommodation perspective as you’ll have plenty of options in Liverpool and indeed Manchester as well. The British rail system is excellent in between all the strikes.