Founder & Editor · Last reviewed 2026-09-11
The Durham National is the biggest race run at Sedgefield: a Class 3 handicap chase staged every October, and a fixture at the County Durham course since 1955. It is the only race Sedgefield lists under its own racing highlights.
There is no Sedgefield Cup. This page carried a guide to one for some time, and that was our error. No racecard, result or racecourse listing anywhere records a race of that name, and the course's own highlights name only the Durham National. If you arrived looking for the Sedgefield Cup, the Durham National is almost certainly the race you want.
What follows covers the race itself. The complete guide covers the course, the betting guide covers how Sedgefield tends to bet, and the day out guide covers visiting.
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History of the Durham National
The Durham National was first staged in 1955 and has been part of the Sedgefield calendar ever since. The racecourse describes it as a fixture since that year, and it remains the course's biggest race.
We hold no verified account of the race's renewals beyond that founding date, so this section stops there rather than filling the gap. The course history covers Sedgefield itself, which has staged racing far longer than the National has existed.
The Race & Conditions
The Durham National is a Class 3 handicap chase. It is not a Graded race and it is not a Premier Handicap, and any page that says otherwise is wrong.
Distance
Our two sources disagree. Sedgefield's own site gives the race as run over three and three-quarter miles; Wikipedia gives three miles and five furlongs. We publish the racecourse's figure because it is the course's own race, and we flag the discrepancy here rather than quietly picking one.
Either way it is a marathon trip, and stamina is the first thing the race asks for.
When it runs
October, every year. The 2025 running was sponsored by Michael Watson Civils and Groundworks and took place on 19 October. Sponsor names change from season to season, so treat a sponsored racecard title as a label for that year's running rather than the name of the race.
The track
Sedgefield is a left-handed, undulating jumps course, and it stages National Hunt racing only. The complete guide has the layout in full.
Frequently Asked Questions
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