The British love horse racing. As a competitive sport, most of the world’s races are based around events that took place here for the first time before being exported abroad. You can watch versions of the likes of the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas in countries such as Italy and France, for example.
In a sporting sense, horse racing is up there with the likes of football as being one of the country’s finest exports. Just because it has been taken on by the rest of the world doesn’t mean that it has been forgotten about back in Britain, however, with 59 courses operating in the country.
The obvious question to ask when you hear a figure like that, bearing in mind that it is excluding point-to-point courses on top of that, is about where they are all located. In terms of countries, it is clear that there are more in England than the other home nations combined, with Wales boasting three compared to the five that you’ll find in Scotland and none whatsoever in Northern Ireland.
That means that England has 51 racecourses that are still in operation, which doesn’t even look at the large number of courses that once saw racing take place at them but don’t any more.
Breaking Down The Courses By County
At the time of writing, Towcester Racecourse is not operating for horse racing, so has been excluded from our thinking. Whilst we’ll update this section if needs be in the future, it is important to outline the fact that we won’t discuss it here. We should also point out that we’re looking at the overall racecourse, as opposed to the number of courses that the racecourse boasts.
That is to say, Aintree Racecourse has both the Grand National Course and the Mildmay Course, but we’re only considering it as one racecourse rather then two different courses.
North Yorkshire – 5 Racecourses
If you were to think of horse racing, you’d be forgiven if North Yorkshire didn’t immediately jump into your head as being a county associated with the sport. For many, horse racing is the preserve of the rich, meaning you would expect it to be most popular in the likes of the Home Counties. That, though, is perhaps a touch dismissive of a typically quite working class part of the country. In actual fact, there are five racecourses operating in North Yorkshire, making it the county that boasts more courses than any other. If you widened things to Yorkshire as a whole, there’d be even more.
There are two courses in West Yorkshire and one apiece in South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, so if you wanted to consider Yorkshire to be a county in its own right then we’d be talking about nine different racecourses. Of course, we shouldn’t be all that surprised by that, considering the fact that Yorkshire is the oldest country in the country. In reality, though, it is no longer one big county and is instead split up into the different areas mentioned, so we will treat North Yorkshire as a county in its own right, meaning that there are five courses to speak of.
Catterick
Catterick Racecourse, sometimes known as Catterick Bridge Racecourse is the first that we’ll tell you about. Located a mile to the north west of Catterick, racing was held here for the first time in 1783. It boasts a left-handed track that is sharp and undulating, running for just over a mile and with a run-in of three miles. There is a gravel subsoil to mean that the Going is usually Good, though there are plans to introduce an all-weather track here. On Sunday, Catterick Sunday Market is held on the racecourse grounds and is the largest market in the north of England.
Redcar
Redcar Racecourse is left-handed and runs for a little over a mile and four furlongs. There is a three furlong chute that joins the track where the top bend joins the straight, offering a one mile straight course that is the only ‘straight mile’ in the United Kingdom that is both straight and level. Racing in Redcar began on the beach towards the end of the 18th century, giving cause to build a course in 1872. A grandstand was built four years later and during the two World Wars the course was used as an army base as well as an airfield for the Royal Air Force to use.
Ripon
Ripon Racecourse has stood at its current location since 1900, but racing had actually begun in city nearly 250 years before. An OS map from 1856, for example, shows a racecourse located on the north side of the Ure. In 1723, the city of Ripon hosted the first ever horse race for female jockeys, gaining nationwide attention. As with Redcar, the course was used by what was then the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. In 2003, Ripon Racecourse was voted the ‘best small racecourse in the north’ by the Racegoers club. It is a right-handed course over one mile and five furlongs.
Thirsk
Thirsk Racecourse is arguably the smallest of the courses in North Yorkshire, thereby having the least to say about it. It is a left-handed oval that is about one mile and two furlongs in length, which includes a three furlong finish. There is also a six furlong chute to give more options in terms of layout for races. The course as it currently is first opened in 1923, but nearly Black Hambleton had hasted races nearly 200 years before. It is a course that is popular with northern trainers, boasting the likes of the Thirsk Hunt Cup and the Summer Cup, whilst in 1940 the war-time substitute of the St. Leger took place here.
York
York Racecourse is the opposite of Thirsk, insomuch as it is the biggest of the courses that exist in North Yorkshire. Racing in the city of York itself can be dated back to the time of the Romans, but there is a lack of certainty about when the sport first began on the current site of the racecourse. The course itself claims that racing has taken place here since 1730, but there is some suggestion that it actually arrived a year later. For the 350,000 racegoers that turn up each year, of course, that couldn’t matter less. The track was altered into a full round course in 2005 in order to host the Royal Ascot meeting.
Surrey – 4 Racecourses
When most people think of horse racing, a county like Surrey is exactly what they’ll think of. That isn’t so much because of the rolling green hills and open spaces as much as it is thanks to the people who speak received pronunciation and pubs that probably have a picture of the King up on the wall, playing the national anthem instead of ringing the bell for last orders.
That, of course, might be grossly unfair, but there is something about the likes of Surrey that seems to make sense when you picture ‘horsey people’, which possibly helps the explain the four racecourses that can be found around the county.
Epsom Downs
Epsom Downs is the quintessential example of what we’re talking about, thanks in no small part to the fact that it plays host to two of the five Classics that are run during the season. The Oaks and the Derby both take place here, with the course itself able to welcome as many as 130,000 people when you take into account those that are watching freely from Epsom Downs itself. The course itself isn’t a circuit, but is instead a rough ‘U’ shape, boasting a few different chutes that run onto the course and allow for races of different lengths to be run on it during a meeting.
Kempton Park
Kempton Park Racecourse stands just 16 miles to the south-west of Charing Cross train station, making it one of the closest courses to London. There are two tracks at the racecourse, with the National Hunt one being triangular in nature and running for one mile and five furlongs. There is also an all-weather track, which opened in 2006 and is a right-handed oval that runs for either eight or ten furlongs depending on whether the inner or the outer bend is used. The King George VI Chase is arguably the most famous race held on the National Hunt track, taking place every Boxing Day.
Lingfield Park
Lingfield Park Racecourse is owned by the ARC Racing and Leisure Group. It is best-known as being an all-weather track for winter racing on the flat, although it obviously wasn’t like that when it first opened in 1890. In fact, it was only used for jump racing during its early years, with the Jockey Club only granting the right for flat racing to take place here in 1894. The all-weather track was installed on the inside of the turf course, opening for the first time in 1989. The turf track still exists, hosting National Hunt racing on a regular basis during the jump season.
Sandown Park
Sandown Park Racecourse is another course located on the outskirts of London, which is what Surrey as a county offers. It is used for both National Hunt and flat racing, with five Grade 1 and one Group 1 races hosted here. Having opened in 1875, Sandown Park was one of the first racecourses in the country to charge for entry, with everyone attending needing to pay at least half a crown. It was where the Grand National Hunt Chase was held before it moved to become part of the Cheltenham Festival, boasting the largest prize money in the sport when it was first run.
Somerset – 3 Racecourses
Somerset is, if you want to talk largely in clichés, a county of apples and cider. It is also somewhere that you’ll find three different racecourses, proving that not everywhere can be boiled down to just one identity.
That being said, Somerset is similar to Surrey insomuch as it is down south and therefore much more in fitting with the idea that most people have of a horse racing county than somewhere like North Yorkshire. With three racecourse to speak of it, has the joint-third most courses in its county alongside Berkshire, that we’ll tell you about shortly.
Bath
Bath Racecourse is a left-handed, oval track that runs for one mile, four furlongs and 25 yards. The run-in itself is nearly half a mile long, with the home straight being four furlongs of that and boasting a steady rise through. It is the highest flat racing course in the country, whilst the fact that it doesn’t have any watering facilities means that the Going can be extremely Firm during the summer months. Racing in Bath was first recorded in 1728, but the first major meeting at the racecourse wasn’t recorded until 1811. The Lansdown Fillies’ Stakes and the Beckford Stakes are the two highest-profile races run at the course.
Taunton
Taunton Racecourse is located two miles south of Taunton itself. It opened in 1927, making it the youngest National Hunt course in England, although racing had been taking place in the Taunton area more than 100 years before. It is a right-handed oval track, offering two long straights and two tight bends, running for one mile and two furlongs. It not only has fences that need to be negotiated but also open ditches that ask questions of the horses. When the M5 was built, the course improved thanks to the removed earth being added to the back straight and bends.
Wincanton
Wincanton Racecourse can be found on the outskirts of the town of Wincanton, after which it is named. It is a National Hunt course, with the steeplechase fences offering a decent test of the chasers that take it on thanks to the size of them. There are three fences that follow quickly one after the other on the home straight, making for exciting races and often changing how the race works out. There are a number of big races held here, including the CGA Chase and the Kingwell Hurdle. The track itself is not far from the yard of trainer Paul Nicholls, who often runs horses here.
Berkshire – 3 Racecourses
All of West Yorkshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Norfolk, Merseyside, Devon and Cumbria have two racecourses apiece. That means that Berkshire is the last county that we’ll write about as having a good number of courses of which to speak.
Not to bang the drum too much, but there is no question Berkshire is very much the stereotype of a county where you’d expect horse racing to take place, with the stereotype not helped by the fact that Windsor Racecourse is located close to a castle and Ascot started by the Royal Family.
Ascot
Ascot Racecourse is arguably one of the most famous racecourses in the world. Opened in 1711 by Queen Anne, it is responsible for around 10% of all racecourse visitors in the country thanks to the 600,000+ people who attend meetings here each year. There are 18 flat race meetings, of which Royal Ascot is the most popular, as well as eight jump racing meetings at the time of writing. Big races such as the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Ascot Gold Cup are run here, whilst in 1996 Frankie Dettori made history by winning all seven races on the same day at the racecourse.
Newbury
Newbury Racecourse has courses for both flat and jump racing, hosting the Lockinge Stakes, which is one of the 36 Group 1 races that take place annually in the country. The first meeting was hosted in September 1905, although the first recorded race in Newbury took place 100 years earlier. Copper King, ridden by Charlie Trigg and trained by Charles Marnes, won the first ever race to take place at the course, being presented with a Silver Cup that was valued at £25, as well as a gold-mounted whip. The course was used as a prisoner-of-war camp in the First World War.
Windsor
Windsor Racecourse can be found on the banks of the River Thames, occupying a large island between the channel of the river and the Clewer Mill Stream. It is shaped like a figure-of-eight, being one of only two such courses in the UK alongside Fontwell Park. The full course is never used, however, and races of one mile, one mile and two furlongs and one mile, three furlongs and 99 yards take place here instead. The big races that take place on the course are the likes of the Winter Hill Stakes, the Royal Windsor Stakes and the Midsummers Stakes, all run on the flat.
