ALL roads lead to Taunton Racecourse on Sunday, when they host their Christmas Meeting, which is always the biggest of the year.

This year the ideal conditions of good to soft all round the course are likely to ensure another afternoon of exciting National Hunt racing action, with the first of the seven races on the card set to go to post at 12.45pm.

With 77 horses declared, all of the leading trainers including Paul Nicholls, Phillip Hobbs, Colin Tizzard, Alan King and David Pipe are represented, while leading jockeys Wayne Hutchinson, Paddy Brennan, Lizzie Kelly and Aidan Coleman are all booked for rides.

The big event on the card is the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle over two miles 104 yards, which is a Class 1 listed race and is worth £20k to the winning connections.

Two horses that are likely to attract strong interest in the big race are Posh Trish, trained by Paul Nicholls with Harry Cobden on board, and the Paul Webber-trained Indefatigable under Gavin Sheehan, while those looking for better value might want to look at Passing Call, trained by Alan King and ridden by Wayne Hutchinson.

Taunton are expecting a bumper crowd so the advice is to arrive in plenty of time.

Tickets can be purchased at a discounted rate online if purchased in advance before 10am on Saturday morning, by logging onto the Racecourse website.

A free coach service departs from Taunton Railway Station two hours before the off, and returns from the course 30 minutes after the start of the last race.