RACEGOERS will be able to make the most of the Cheltenham Festival in Hexham today.

For Hexham Racecourse will hosts its Cheltenham Festival Raceday to coincide with the famous event in Gloucestershire.

It will be the first of 15 national hunt meetings to be held at Hexham this year.

It will include a seven race card with 61 horses entered, while those in attendance will also be able to keep abreast of activities at Cheltenham.

Today’s racing at Hexham will will include a four-mile handicap chase with a prize fund of £11,000.

It is the start of a busy season for Hexham Racecourse, which is keen to attract children and their families to race meetings.

Gates will open at 11.55am, and under-18s will enjoy free entry, provided they attend with parents or carers.

l The prestigious Heart Of All England Maiden Hunters’ Chase, which attracts some of the leading young point-to-point horses in the north, will take place at Hexham on Saturday, May 4.

For the first time, it will be sponsored by Hexham-based agricultural merchants J.S Hubbuck Ltd, which is celebrating 70 years in business this year.

There is a close family link for company director Geoff Hubbuck, whose late father John trained horses in the town for 40 years from 1957.