- Season opener begins in Carlisle, October 16.
- Watch jump season from Saturday on ITVX (UK restricted)
- Travelling outside the UK? Use NordVPN to unlock your ITVX account
The National Hunt curtain raises again this week as the jump season opener begins in Carlisle this Thursday. The season spans from mid-October through to late April/early May with an annual narrative arc revolving around Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown, there’s an eagerness for this season to commence.
Make sure to catch your favourite horses as the likes of Jonbon, Constitution Hill, Galopin des Champs and Inothewayurthinkin return for 2025/26.
So how can you watch the National Hunt season on ITVX from wherever you are in the world? Is ITVX available as an app?
Here’s our guide on how to watch the National Hunt season for free.
How to watch the National Hunt for free on ITVX
ITV’s online streaming service, ITVX, will be broadcasting select jump races throughout the season, including major jump-racing festivals such as Cheltenham and the Grand National as well as their live Saturday racing coverage.
What’s great about ITVX’s coverage is that you don’t even need an ITVX subscription to watch live racing, you just need a valid TV license and an email account and you’re all good to go.
First time using ITVX? You can register for a free account or download the app to your mobile device.
Outside the UK for any racing? You can use NordVPN to reliably unlock your ITVX stream of the major racing festivals from anywhere in the world.
How to watch ITVX’s racing coverage from anywhere
ITVX will only be broadcasting live racing this season to UK residents.
For racing fans travelling or working outside of the UK for this season’s National Hunt, you will need a VPN to access ITVX’s coverage.
There are many great VPN’s on the market, but NordVPN is the one you can rely on to unlock ITVX’s coverage of this season’s National Hunt.
It’s really simple to use a VPN to unblock your stream of ITVX’s live racing this season.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we’ve said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you’re visiting Australia and want to watch your free ITVX stream, you’d select ‘UK’.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to ITVX, sign in, and watch all this season’s live racing.
What does ITVX’s coverage include?
ITV Racing’s broadcast covers both flat and jump (National Hunt) races. ITVX host live races, highlights and a full program so viewers can watch live online or catch up.
ITV’s race coverage includes build up to all their covered events, post-race analysis offering excellent insight as well as feature segments and on-course reporting which will be available most Saturday’s and some weekdays for big festivals.
ITV’s jump racing team includes a mix of journalists, former jockeys, racing insiders and pundits. Ed Chamberlin leads the presenting team along side Francesca Cumani, with Mick Fitzgerald, Alice Plunkett and Luke Harvey contributing to analysis.
What devices is ITVX available on?
You can use ITVX on all of the following devices and platforms:
Amazon Fire (Tablets, Cube, Stick, TVs)
Android TV (please note: some models aren’t supported)
Android (Mobile & Tablet) – Android 7.0 and above
Apple TV (tvOS 14 or later)
Google TV (Chromecast with Google TV and NVIDIA Shield)
Freely
Freesat (please note: some models aren’t supported)
Freeview Play (TVs and set-top boxes) (please note: some models aren’t supported)
iOS (iPhone & iPad) – iOS 14 and above
LG Smart TVs (2016-2024)
NOW Smart Sticks and Boxes (minimum firmware v11.5.0)
PlayStation (PS4 and PS5)
Roku (Stick & Roku-OS powered TVs, minimum firmware v11.5.0)
Samsung Smart TVs (2017 and above – 2016 models only offer on demand TV)
Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream puck
Virgin Media (360, Stream, TiVo)
YouView (BT, Humax, Sony, TalkTalk)
Xbox (One, Series X, Series S)
What to expect from the Carlisle season opener?
It’s that time of year again as the paddocks across the country spring back into life as the National Hunt begins on October 16 at Carlisle. The season opener is more than just a local meeting, it’s the official start of the jumps campaign where hopes are renewed, strategies are implemented and many new faces come to the forefront.
For racing fans, Carlisle marks the start of all the drama that’s yet to unfold across hurdles, steeplechases, National Hunt flat as well as novice and handicap races. However, at this stage of the season, we rarely see the big stars enter the fold, leaving the door open for rising stars to emerge onto the big stage.
Ones to watch in Carlisle:
Olly Murphy is a trainer who likes to take advantage of the early meetings and with a strong team this year, things look exciting.
Donald McCain is very dominant in the North of England, and is often is well equipped for the Carlisle races.
Paul Nicholls is looking likely to field a runner or two on a resurgence mission, testing out his young chasers on the big stage.
Harry Atkins is a jockey to keep your eye on as he looks to gain some invaluable experience in Cumbria this week.
National Hunt Meeting Schedule
Cheltenham November Meeting
📅 Friday 14 – Sunday 16 November 2025
📍 Cheltenham Racecourse
⬩ Season’s first major meeting – features the Paddy Power Gold Cup.
Coral Gold Cup Meeting (formerly Hennessy)
📅 Friday 28 – Saturday 29 November 2025
📍 Newbury
⬩ Coral Gold Cup (Saturday) is a top early-season staying handicap chase.
Tingle Creek Festival
📅 Friday 5 – Saturday 6 December 2025
📍 Sandown Park
⬩ Features the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase.
Christmas Festival
📅 Friday 26 – Saturday 27 December 2025
📍 Kempton Park
⬩ King George VI Chase (Boxing Day) is the highlight.
Welsh Grand National Meeting
📅 Friday 27 December 2025
📍 Chepstow
⬩ Major staying handicap chase in heavy ground.
Festival Trials Day
📅 Saturday 24 January 2026
📍 Cheltenham
⬩ Final prep for many Cheltenham Festival hopefuls.
Dublin Racing Festival
📅 Saturday 1 – Sunday 2 February 2026
📍 Leopardstown
⬩ Grade 1s across the board; strong Cheltenham pointers.
Cheltenham Festival
📅 Tuesday 10 – Friday 13 March 2026
📍 Cheltenham
⬩ The crown jewel – 4 days of Grade 1 action including Champion Hurdle, Gold Cup, etc.
Aintree Grand National Festival
📅 Thursday 9 – Saturday 11 April 2026
📍 Aintree
⬩ 3-day meeting with multiple Grade 1s, ending with the Grand National.
Scottish Grand National Meeting
📅 Friday 17 – Saturday 18 April 2026
📍 Ayr
⬩ Scotland’s biggest jumps race.
bet365 Jumps Finale
📅 Saturday 25 April 2026
📍 Sandown Park
⬩ End-of-season meeting – features the Celebration Chase.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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