Great Sporting Classics

As Rudyard Kipling is quoted: “Play up! Play up! And play the game!”

THE BRITISH SPORTING CALENDAR has a rich tradition. As an island nation with a sporting history dating from the Middle Ages, it is hardly surprising that many of the great competitive fixtures involve water and horses. Often, there are long-standing traditions for spectators as well as competitors: Things like dress for Royal Ascot, strawberries and cream at Wimbledon and the presence of the Queen or sundry of the Royal family. Here are some highlights of the sporting year.

1. CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP

The sporting year really gets off to a flying start with this March jumps meeting in the Cotswolds. The highlight race, the Gold Cup, is one of the premier steeplechases of the year, attracting a raffish crowd and national attention. It’s traditional to have a flutter. MARCH 25, 2015 www.cheltenham.co.uk

2. OXFORD-CAMBRIDGE BOAT RACE

Never have so few practiced so much for so little time in the spotlight. The annual 4.2-mile race on a traditional Thames River stretch in West London has been An April fixture on the sporting calendar since 1829. Muscular 8s train for blue all year. The series currently stands Cambridge 81, Oxford 78.
APRIL 11, 2015 www.theboatrace.org

3. FA CUP FINAL

Every eligible club team in Britain can compete for the FA (Football Association) Cup, contested since 1871. Not surprisingly, though, the single-elimination tournament generally results in Premier League teams meeting for the knockout championship at Wimbledon every May. This year it was Arsenal over Hull City 3-2. MAY 9, 2015 www.thefa.com/TheFACup

4. ROYAL ASCOT

The daily presence of Her Majesty and the Royal family makes the annual race meeting just across Windsor Great Park from Windsor perhaps the key social event of the sporting calendar. Ladies Day is the racing highlight, but don’t expect to get into the Royal Enclosure.
JUNE 16 TO JUNE 20, 2015 www.ascot.co.uk

5. WIMBLEDON

Tennis, anyone? The oldest tennis tournament in the world is also the only major grass court championship. Maintaining a strict code of dress and deportment for competitors, Wimbledon has been a fixture on the sporting scene since 1877. Strawberries and cream are de rigueur for spectators.
JUNE 29 TO JULY 12, 2015 www.wimbledon.com

6. HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

Sporting action moves upriver to the Thames Valley the first weekend in July for the premier event on the rowing calendar. Crews from around the world have competed on the mile and a quarter course since 1839. The Grand Challenge Cup for men’s 8s is the highlight, but there’s nonstop river action for five days.
JULY 1 TO JULY 5, 2015 www.hrr.co.uk

7. BRITISH OPEN

The oldest of the four major golf tournaments (annually since 1860) and the only one held outside the U.S., the British Open takes place the third weekend of July. Nine courses in Scotland and England host golf’s royalty in rotation. Next years’ tournament is in St. Andrews—birthplace of the game.
JULY 12 TO JULY 19, 2015 www.theopen.com

8. GLORIOUS GOODWOOD

As July spills into August, the second great race meeting of the summer gathers at Goodwood near Chichester on the south coast. Once again, the world’s greatest horses and jockeys vie in five days of races on Goodwood’s beautiful grass, while the cognoscenti sip Pimms in Panamas and fascinators.
JULY 29 TO AUGUST 2, 2015 www.goodwood.co.uk/horse-racing

9. COWES WEEK

Racing shifts to the Solent and the Isle of Wight in August for Cowes Week. Flotillas of boats fill the Solent centered on the IOW harbor town of Cowes for a week of nonstop yacht races, and nonstop parties in the clubs and streets of the waterfront.
AUGUST 8 TO AUGUST 15, 2015 www.cowes.co.uk

10. BRAEMAR GATHERING

Held the first Saturday in September in the small Aberdeenshire town of Braemar, the world-famous Highland Games have been attended by the monarch and Royal family—since Queen Victoria began the tradition in 1844. Though the Gathering dates from the mid-1700s, legend buries its roots centuries earlier in Scottish history. SEPTEMBER 5, 2015 www.braemargathering.org

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