What's your favourite sporting event of the year?

It would be the Epsom Derby given its proximity. Next would be The Arc esp so if I was on a fancied runner.

Really enjoyed Aintree last season with Mullins going for the UK Championship...pity he can't catch the cheating DS this time

Back in the day I'd have no hesitation in nominating the greyhound Derby final but since it went to Towcester I've got very little, if any, interest in the competition.

These days I'd have to go for the rugby union world cup.

Used to be the 3 day Brighton festival, early August. Now, the 3 day Dante at York. Masters golf after that.

Slippy...yes, totally agree. Among much else running the competition at a track where the action is the width of a horse racing track away from the attendees just shows how far the sport has fallen...

The 6 nations was good this year, and it's free on tv.

Carabao cup final will take some beating in 2025.

Still The National.

Stanley Cup final   

Top 3 for me

1. Cheltenham Festival - way out in front
2. The British Open
3. The US Masters.

Royal ascot

crucible , ill watch every frame covered on bbc live , and r ascot, but that not the same for me as it was on the beeb

ps , back to the snooker, i enjoy the 1st round up to and inc the quarter finals better than the semis /final

17 days  of snooker.....wise up......

Rather do 17 days ......at any hmp

Had  a cracking  day out  at Epsom 1n 1971 Mill Reef won the Derby  went to the European  Cup final on the Knight  question  for all you  quiz fans who won it.and no looking it up.
Have a good day.
Regards.
Ronnie.

Did you see Johan that night Ronnie

1st I had ever heard of the opposition Ronnie that will never happen again

Jimnast.
Yes I also saw him at a very foggy Elland Road.
Enjoy Doncaster.
Ronnie.

Cheltenham Festival by far. Six Nations Rugby (though not this year )

Cheers Ronnie looking forward to the flat

Ajax had been Thea by a very experienced ac Milan side in 69 they learnt a lot from that incredible to think the Dutch won 4 European cups on the bounce

Thrashed not thea

Cheltenham by miles followed by Masters.

Cheltenham , followed by Olympics and Tour de France .

Used to be the 5 Nations (now 6) by miles. The teachers, lawyers, bricklayers, blacksmiths of Scotland used to take on the ex-public schoolboys of England. Absolutely nothing came close but then they introduced professionalism, lifting in the lineouts, putting the ball into the second row at scrums and the utterly interminable, boring rucking to gain a yard. Yawn! So th Grand National took over (again by miles) until they chopped down the fences and made it a 4mile bumper for the Irish. So now we are left with Cheltenham. Nothing else. TdF second. I miss the sumo, a really great sport.

Hibore

How was level 3 I was surprised at the amount of empty seats throughout the week

Cheltenham
Superbowl
Grand National

Same as a few others have mentioned it used to be the Greyhound Derby as my Number 1 but the move to Towcester has killed it

First game of the football season, you have all those hopes and aspirations and then.......

Went to the Boat race when I was young. Was cancelled because of Waterlogged Course.  Never bothered since. 

Cross channel rowing event, seems to go on all year now, thousands of competitors, nearly all male competing for a prize of free money plus what you make from other activities, free housing etc. Used to be obstacles in their way, but now anyone struggling gets the Lifeboats sent out to make sure get here safely.

FA Cup Final as a kid when we got our first telly - Community singing and Abide With Me, and proper honest football with real heroes and no VAR
Can't turn the clock back

cheltenham
ryder cup
superbowl

Well for comedy gold it has to be stewarty b's aftertining threads.

While you get years where you enjoy the jumpers more than the flat, and vice versa, I do enjoy Royal Ascot most. It’s just that time of the year, the horses are in full summer bloom in their coats, and the season is still relatively young. Moreover the dilution from making the former Heath day into a fifth Royal day has not had the dramatically damaging effect that the extra day has had on Cheltenham - though I do miss the likes of the Solunus’s and Marvell’s  not taking part part in the Kings Stand.

Tiddlywinks world champs,now there’s a competition to get excited about.

Cheltenham
Royal Ascot
Glorious Goodwood/Galway week

racing aside

The Open
Masters
Super Bowl

world snooker championship JV,WT etc before bucket bags = brilliant
greyhound derby final when at wimbledon
cheltenham 3 days/1st decade of 4
royal ascot v good
boat race once a year I don't mind

in their current form probably just wsc number 1

Rather tying for me (can't split them) but:

Wimbledon tennis
Snooker WC

But those are one-offs, so couldn't forget the general racing even if not a single event, and every week of league footy to boot!

Favourite betting event isn't even a sport though - Eurovision song contest - love betting on that every year.

It's all mixed up with whether I could bet well enough on anything - most events of sport/TV I wouldn't watch unless I could bet and win on it.

neither snooker or golf are sports

You should start a debate on those forums mitolo

Racing:
Royal Ascot
Glorious Goodwood
Grand National
Newmarket Craven meeting

Other sports:
Wales v England six nations
NFL Superbowl
AFL Grand final

As a youngster it was the Grand National by far (used to look forward to it for months in advance), followed by the FA Cup. Though the quality of the horses has largely improved in the National, it now feels like a cross country race. Cannot blame Aintree for the changes in my opinion (times and sensibilities change and thus the race had to), but for me any magic has long ago left town.

Not sure if I have a favourite now though. Probably partly to do with the lack of wonder one tends to feel when getting older, but think there's so much entertainment at the click of a button nowadays that nothing quite has the magic that it used to.

World snooker tournament, Superbowl, Cheltenham and the Ryder Cup would complete my top 5.

Anything the BBC don`t show.

The Nenana Ice Classic. Only a few days left to buy tickets. Would be an amusing in-running event.

iswearitsoath

I agree with every word of your 16:03 post

The Open Golf

T20 Blast
The 100
Big Bash
IPL

Royal Ascot (soley nags related nothing to do with royalty or fashion)

Betfairs fave sporting event is IPL

Royal Ascot

The Craven meeting

Juddmonte day

arc day . the greatest flat race in the world .

always had a soft spot for the dante meeting, arguebly the best meeting to attend

Love the world champs snooker and major Golf.

US Masters is hard to beat..

As for racing, as others have said, love the Craven meeting....or i did, in the 80s pre godolphin/coolmore.  Was a real sense of excitement which really isnt there anymore (imo)

the craven in the 80s,   great memories, fairy footsteps, oh so sharp, d brave, doyoun ( beating below par warning ), lear fan , ajdal, tirol , chalon, sonic lady , whaw  and most if not all of these won the guniness , and mystiko winning thr feee hcap , ( wouldnt recall 1 winner  in the last 20 years )

[
Good morning elisjohn

Well thank you for reminding me of something I have only just got over after more than 30 years ,over the winter of 1990/91 I kept backing lycius to win the 2000 guineas 66/1 50/1 33/1 and was delighted when it was announced the great Steve Cauthen was to ride ,even on the morning of the race I backed the horse again at 10/1 without the hot favourite marju,we took up our spots on ground level around 50 yards from the winning post I couldn’t believe my eyes as lycius started pulling clear at the furlong pole nothing anywhere near him the cheering had started and just as the approach the line right on the stands rail I saw a jockeys head go past me I hadn’t a clue what it was so I rushed to the tv screens and saw the horse on the stand side had got up it was 7 lengths back to the 3rd the horse that had got up was mystiko

To this day I have never watched a race from that position at Newmarket

elisjohn30 Mar 25 08:44
the craven in the 80s,   great memories, fairy footsteps, oh so sharp, d brave, doyoun ( beating below par warning ), lear fan , ajdal, tirol , chalon, sonic lady , whaw  and most if not all of these won the guniness , and mystiko winning the feee hcap , ( wouldnt recall 1 winner  in the last 20 years )


Yes, exactly.....really were great days.

I still go to the craven meeting still very enjoyable and still get a buzz early morning on the gallops

Some things are better today , a mobile phone , cars that rarely break down ,not having to go to a smoke filled betting office to watch the racing. The Grand National , and the F A Cup final are now pale imitations of what they were in the 70s/80s. I used to feel down when they were finished, probably the adrenalin wearing off , that doesn't happy any more , sadly.

Jimnast.
Is this the meeting  you have got a great  deal at the Bedford Lodge  .Enjoy  Can't find that depatches  video.
Ronnie.

Jimnast, you might not want to watch this then.        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQAWpMc2TAM

Jimnast, you might not want to watch this then.        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQAWpMc2TAM

Masters

The Open

World Snooker

Cheltenham..Used ta b No1

Yes that’s correct Ronnie

Elisjohn

Green Desert the best winner of European Free handicap in the glory days of the Craven meeting,

Did it on course
Did it at Stud

Ryder Cup
Cheltenham Gold Cup
Grand National.

cricket on beeb was super , the gillette cup, b& hedges cup plus the test cricket, and every 4 years the prudential world cup,   and amongst those you might have  the euros or world cup, plus wimbledon,   british open, r ascot , g goodwood , special summers , not the same for me now

cricket was an illusion on BBC ,2 dimensional,I spent my 1st 25 yrs watching cricket ,thinking geoff boycott never hit it off the carpet,never offered a catch,wasn't till sky took over that you realized 90% of the shots were in the air , remember when all the overs were shown from the same end on BBC

Agree with that 1sttp , all you saw in the bad old days was the batsman's arse 50% of the time and no idea what was happening with the poor technology and camerawork compared to today , for the viewer LBW was even more guesswork than picking horses.

Sky have taken the likes of Cricket to a completely different level , outstanding coverage   

School Girls Hockey Final.

The Open golf championship when not played at St Andrews.

Used to be fascinated by the Grand National but loathe what it has become ( can also chuck The Cheltenham festival in there as well )

Feel sorry that the youth of today never got to witness what the FA Cup really meant ....a lot in football is much improved nowadays but nothing comes close to what the Cup  was all about.

f a cup final day in the 60s to 90s for me  was nearly on a par with xmas morning , even listening to the 3rd round draw at 12.30 on radio 2 was superb

No many true Racing fans oan here.....Sad to see....Nay Wonder this place is deed.

I mean Snooker ffs....Died in the 80s.

nothing better than a late or early morning at the Crucible

On a black and white tv

With 3 channels

“For those of you watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green.” - Ted Lowe 

Whilst we're being silly...



“I saw her snatch this morning and it was amazing “

Weightlifting commentator



“So where’s that 8 inches you promised me last night”

News reporter to weatherman after there was no snow

Great thread...actually fulfilled am ambition to go the Crucible for the WC three years ago. Only round 1 on a Monday morning but had the misfortune to see Mark Allen play a but of a nobody (if my memory serves me correctly).

Great atmosphere but this was the day that Allen first turned his career around. He finally won the match in the evening session but, f**k me, what a bore.

The morning session took so long that the wife and I only had 20 minutes top get outside, eat a crappy hotdog, and then get back in for the afternoon session with two other players. Allen's snail pace messed up our lunch plans and practically brought the game into disrepute! No need for him to play like that, turning down the easiest of chances and hoping his opponent would make errors.

Allen did the same thing in a tournament last year but lost the match - good job!

Sadly, his daft antics when we saw him put me off going to snooker at the Crucible ever again!!

The Knight,   in complete contrast to me, i went first time ever few years back , qfinal , great seats wached selby v wilson,   went to winter palace where hazell was, had lunch in crucible corner, bumped into some old players re terry griffiths , atmosphere in the street outside and inside was great, enjoyed so much went back there for the selby v fu semi , one frame i think was longest on record at the time, loved to go again but hearn has priorised vip packages etc and so difficult to get tickets

I haven't got the time to rate in order but my favourites would include:   The World Snooker, Cheltenham, Royal Ascot, Masters and the Open.    Just about all my favs are not what they used to be.  Maybe it's my age ?

Can’t believe how many like the snooker I would have thought listening to chess on the radio would be more popular.

the only problem i have these days with snooker is , the commentators talk to much, oh for the days of " whispering ted"

Thankfully nobody has suggested that sport that takes place at silverstone

Two excellent posts jimnast. The first one made me lol and the second is abso spot on.

As for chess, I remember being fascinated by the cold war game between Fischer and Spassky in the early 70's although hardly a spectator fest.

My own favourite is the Cheltenham cricket festival held at the college ground. Not as entertaining as the days when Gloucestershire had an array of talent (3 outstanding overseas players) and when they played 3 county games and two Sunday league contests. However the attraction for me outside of the games themselves was the meeting of old friends in one of 7 or 8 "club" tents that were available in the early 80s. Sadly these are now reduced to only one, with Covid putting an end to the camaraderie a few years ago.

Went a two years ago to a one day game with a couple of friends and I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't see a ball bowled - great fun tho

Good morning the sawyer

Fischer and Spassky will be the only not two chess players in the history of the world that anybody has ever heard of other than the parents of anyone else who played.

Korchnoi and Karpov for me

In the 80s Lancashire were at lord’s almost every year we would watch until 15 minutes before lunch and then wonder down to a pub in John’s Wood and watched the rest of it on tele.

Are they types of  fish elisjohn ?

been happening  for yrs mostly inadvertently I think,but noticed in last few snooker tourneys on tv,that commentators are now using the fact that vast MAJ of spectator,s are using the ear plugs with BBC feed coming through,and comms using it to make jokes etc about players .fellowed comms resulting in nthe crowd laughing,I,m expecting the BBC to play on this and build it up even more during world championships, yet another sport trying to  make the comms/co comms as important as the players

repeated from a few yrs ago but I still didn't remember, on millionaire last night ,1st mass market live event on tv
A, wimbledon
B,grand national
C,British grand prix
D, FIFA world cup

I would think B.

Well I will guess a

Racing
Royal Ascot
York Ebor Meeting
Newmarket July Cup Day

Golf
British Open
The Masters

it was  A ,1937 logical as pointless host worked out less logistics /size than the others, 1st national was 1960 apparently

1960 a vintage year

vintage was 1959 just bottled in 1960,roll on November,you must have a yr to go

October for me