Author: GC

Cheltenham is located in a town by the same name, inside Gloucestershire County, South West England. The Jockey Club Racecourses-owned course sits on the Prestbury Park, and underwent a redevelopment worth £45m in 2013. Its main claim to fame is the annual Cheltenham Festival held in March.

History

The course has been used for horse racing purposes since 1831, when flat races were moved to Prestbury from Nottingham Hill to evade the church’s violent opposition to horse racing. Most modelling and development was done in the 1920s, but works have been done over the years to accommodate dynamic crowds and racing trends.

The venue

Cheltenham is regarded a natural amphitheatre because it attracts many other events besides horse racing. It can hold 67,000 spectators across the sections, with a grandstand and Royal Box to catch all the action from.

There are two racing courses, the Old and New, with slight variations from each other. One particular downhill fence is a source of interest for spectators, as it is tricky and requires horses and their riders to be at their best.

There are also member areas and bar facilities within the course, all upgraded during the 2013 redevelopment.

Notable races

During the annual festival, Grade I Races like the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Champion Hurdle, and Stayers’ Hurdle take place. Many notable races have taken place in these events, among them the five races won by Golden Miller in the 1930s.

Horses who ran there

Golden Miller remains the most legendary horse to run here, with five consecutive Gold Cup wins. L’Escargot in 1975, Arkle in 1996, Best Mate in 2004 and Kauto Star in 1999 also deserve a mention.

Other events

Inside the Cheltenham is Centaur, an auditoria with a 2000 sitting/4000 standing capacity for conferences and concerts. Major events held here include the Greebelt faith, arts and justice festival, Wynchwood Music Concert and Gloucestershire University’s graduation and summer ball.

Chelmsford City Racecourse is a racing venue found in Great Leighs near Chelmsford, Essex, England. It was formerly called Great Leighs Racecourse. The racecourse is owned by John Holmes and son, Jonathan and was officially opened on 20/04/2008.

History

Chelmsford held its first race meeting with an audience on 28/05/2008 and the opening race was won by Temple of Thebes. It is a flat Polytrack type of course. The racecourse became famous for its racing facilities but was also criticised for its incomplete visitors’ facilities and thus did not meet expectations at many levels. The venue can host races during winter as well as summer.

Closure

Racing was halted temporarily on 16/01/2009 and the site put on a bid. It was announced in March that the two bidding parties had been unable to prove that they had sufficient finances to manage it.

Leasing and selling

The Administrators made an 18-month lease deal with Terry Chambers who is a local businessman, but the course was ineligible to bid for fixtures since it was unable to acquire a racing licence in time. The racecourse was expected to resume racing in 2011 after the administrators struck a deal with Chambers and Bill Gredley, where the pair would buy the racetrack. However, the plans did not succeed as the deal did not pull through. MC Racetracks bought the course in November 2011, but the British Horseracing Authority turned down an application to hold fixtures in 2013. BHA however allowed Chelmsford to be among the fixture venues of 2014.Still, when the owners submitted requests for it to host fixtures in 2014, the BHA rejected it. Later in 2013, the racecourse was bought by Betfred’s owner Fred Done and sought the approval of BHA for 2015 fixtures.

Reopening

With an invited crowd of 800 people, the racetrack reopened on 11/01/2015. A public reopening later took place on 22/01/2015, with the first race going to Tryster by a short head.

The course is located just off Catterick town in North Yorkshire County, North East England. It is a dual-race type course, often referred to as Catterick Bridge. It is owned by the Catterick Racecourse Limited.

History

The course has been existent since the mid-17thCentury, although official records only reveal racing stats starting 1783. It was not until 1813 that the current permanent course was built. Many refurbishment changes have been done to the course in the time of its existence, but there has always been a deliberate effort to maintain its original touch. As such, the present Grandstand still possesses some elements of the stand that occupied its place in 1906.

The course

Catterick is a left handed oval course, gently undulating over a length of slightly over a mile. It is modelled for both flat and jumping competitions. The jump races take the start and end of every year- when conditions are wintry- while flat racing occurs in the warmer months between April and October.

It has a gravel sub-soil under the grass, a factor that makes it a relatively stable surface.

Thee course does not have a formal dress code requirement.

Races

January’s Grand National is the headline event every year at Catterick, attracting most racegoers of all 25 fixtures that are run here annually.

The first batch of jump races starts with the New Years day race on January 1, and ends with the Hunt Staff Benefit Society Countryside Day in mid-March. Jumping returns again in November during the Start of The Jumps, and closes the year with the Go Racing in Yorkshire Winter Festival at the end of December. The flat races in between start with the Easter Race Day and end with The Halloween Race Day.

Catterick boasts being the debut track for eventual international flat-track champion horse Colier Hill, who ran his first competitive race at the ground in 2002.