United Kingdom horse-racing |
Horse racing in the United Kingdom is generally of three types, and is a major contributor to the UK economy.
Horse racing can be over fences or over hurdles, known as National Hunt racing or unobstructed distances races, known as
Flat racing.
Additionally there is another form of racing which is run on an altogether more informal and ad hoc basis known as
point to point
racing. Point to point is a form of steeplechasing for amateur
riders. It, like professional racing, is nevertheless run under the auspices of the regulator for horse-racing in the United Kingdom, the Jockey
Club, an arm of the British Horseracing Board.
It is thought that the first races to take place in Britain were organised by soldiers of the Roman Empire in Yorkshire around 200
AD, although the first recorded race meeting was during the reign of Henry II at Smithfield, London in 1174 during a horse fair.
It is believed that the first occurrence of a trophy being presented to the winner
of a race was in 1512 by organisers of a fair in Chester and was a small wooden ball decorated with flowers.
Early in the 16th century Henry VIII imported a large number of stallions and mares for breeding although it was not until the 17th and 18th centuries that the breeding of thoroughbreds began as we know it now.
Newmarket is known as the home of horse racing in England and James I was prominent in introducing racing there after discovering the
little village in 1605 whilst out hawking or riding. He spent so much time there that the House of Commons petitioned him to concentrate more of his time on running the country. This region
had a long association with horses going back to the time of Boudicca and the
Iceni.
Around the time that Charles I of England came to the
throne, Spring and Autumn race meetings were introduced to Newmarket and in 1634 the first Gold Cup event was held.
All horse racing was then banned in 1654 by Oliver Cromwell, and many horses were requisitioned by the state. Despite this Cromwell himself kept a stud
running of his own.
With the restoration of Charles II racing flourished and he instituted the Newmarket Town Plate in
1664, writing the rules himself
Articles ordered by His Majestie to be observed by all persons that put in horses to ride for the Plate, the new round
heat at Newmarket set out on the first day of October, 1664, in the 16th year of our Sovreign Lord King Charles II, which Plate
is to be rid for yearly, the second Thursday in October for ever.
In the early 18th century Queen Anne kept a
large string of horses and was instrumental in the founding of Royal Ascot where the opening race each year is still called the Queen Anne Stakes.
In 1740 parliament introduced an act
to restrain and to prevent the excessive increase in horse racing
though this was largely ignored but in the 1752 the Jockey Club was formed to create and apply the Rules of Racing.
Racing has stayed pretty much the same since with the Jockey Club combining with the National Hunt Committee in 1968 and
remain to this day the regulators of racing in the United Kingdom, with
the British
Horseracing Board, (formed in June 1993) responsible for strategic planning, finance, politics, race planning, training and
marketing.
The fifty nine British venues for horse-racing are known as racecourses with some dedicated to National Hunt, some to Flat
Racing and some holding events for both.
A
- Aintree
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Ascot Racecourse -(mixed)
- Ayr Racecourse -
(mixed)
B
- Bangor on
Dee Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Bath Racecourse -
(flat)
- Beverly
Racecourse - (flat)
- Brighton
Racecourse - (flat)
C
- Carlisle
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Cartmel
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Catterick Bridge -
(mixed)
- Cheltenham
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Chepstow
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Chester
Racecourse - (flat)
D
- Doncaster
Racecourse - (mixed)
E
- Epsom Downs - (flat)
- Exeter Racecourse -
(national hunt)
F
- Fakenham
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Folkestone
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Fontwell Park - (national
hunt)
G
H
- Hamilton Park - (flat)
- Haydock Park - (mixed)
- Hereford
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Hexham Racecourse -
(national hunt)
- Huntingdon
Racecourse - (national hunt)
I
J
K
- Kelso Racecourse -
(national hunt)
- Kempton Park - (mixed)
L
- Leicester
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Lingfield
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Ludlow Racecourse -
(national hunt)
M
- Market
Rasen Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Musselburgh
Racecourse - (mixed)
N
- Newbury
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Newcastle
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Newmarket
Racecourse - (flat)
- Newton
Abbot Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Nottingham
Racecourse - (flat)
O
P
- Perth Racecourse -
(national hunt)
- Plumpton
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Pontefract
Racecourse - (flat)
Q
R
- Redcar Racecourse -
(flat)
- Ripon Racecourse -
(flat)
S
- Salisbury
Racecourse - (flat)
- Sandown Park - (mixed)
- Sedgefield
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Southwell
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Stratford on Avon Racecourse - (national hunt)
T
- Taunton
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Thirsk Racecourse -
(flat)
- Towcester
Racecourse - (national hunt)
U
- Uttoxeter
Racecourse - (national hunt)
V
W
- Warwick
Racecourse - (mixed)
- Wetherby
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Wincanton
Racecourse - (national hunt)
- Windsor
Racecourse - (flat)
- Wolverhampton Racecourse - (flat)
- Worcester
Racecourse - (national hunt)
X
Y
Z
The main meetings held are:
- March
- Cheltenham - The Festival
- Lingfield Park - Bet Direct Winter Derby
- April
- Aintree - Aintree Grand National Meeting
- Ayr - Scottish Grand National
- Newmarket - Craven Meeting
- Sandown Park - Betfred Gold Cup Celebration
- May
- Newmarket - Guineas Meeting
- Chester - May Meeting
- June
- Epsom Downs - Epsom Derby Meeting
- Ascot - Royal Ascot
- Newcastle - John Smith's Northumberland Plate
- July
- Sandown Park - Coral-Eclipse Meeting
- Newmarket - July Meeting
- Ascot - Diamond Day
- Goodwood - Glorious Goodwood
- September
- Haydock Park - Stanley Leisure Sprint Cup
- Doncaster - St. Leger Meeting
- Ayr - Western Meeting
- Ascot - Ascot Festival
- October
- Newmarket - Tote Cambridgeshire Meeting
- Newmarket - October Meeting
- Doncaster - Racing Post Trophy
- Wincanton - Desert Orchid Chase
- November
- Cheltenham - The Paddy Power Open
- Newbury - Hennessy Meeting
- December
- Sandown Park - Tingle Creek Meeting
- Kempton Park - Pertemps Christmas Festival
- Chepstow - Coral Welsh National
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