Steeplechase (horse racing) Steeplechase (horse racing) A steeplechase is a distance horse race in which competitors are required to jump diverse fence and ditch obstacles. Steeplechasing is primarily conducted in Ireland (where it originated), the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia and France. The name is derived from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside. Modern usage of the term "steeplechase" differs between countries. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, it refers only to races run over large, fixed obstacles, in
Horse racing in Wales off-course betting. 1926 saw the opening of Chepstow Racecourse at St Arvans, and although remaining on the margins of British horseracing until the opening of the Severn Bridge in 1966, it is now the country's premier course. Chepstow holds the Welsh National, which is held annually between Christmas and New Year. Due to the growth of other leisure activities and the cost of keeping and breeding horse, flat and national hunt racing went into long-term decline in Wales from the middle of the 19th century. From the middle of the 20th century most of the country's racecourses had closed. Today