Newbury Racecourse is a dual-race type track located in Greenham, next to the town of Newbury in the county of Berkshire, England. It is a high-quality-facility course owned by Newbury Racecourse Company whose races are televised on Racing UK.
History
Racing activities in Newbury were active since the early 19th Century, when 1805 race Newbury Races was recorded at Enborne Heath.
The current course staged its first race in September 1905. Copper King was the winner of the inaugural Whatcombe Handicap.
The jump races came soon after, in 1906, when the course hosted nine days of flat and jump racing.
Building the course was the proposal of trainer John Porter, which was rejected several times by the Jockey Club until a chance meeting gave him the opportunity to seek King Edward VII’s support for the approval. The Jockey Club did approve the plan when the King asked, and at that time the Newbury Racecourses was born.
Porter’s Zelis won the Regulation Plate in September 1905, and the visionary trainer announced his retirement immediately after. Racing took a break during the War when the facility was used to hold prisoners of war from the German faction.
A 2011 occurrence that led to the sudden death of two horses at the course painted it in a bad light. Postmorterm analysis pointed to electrocution that caused heart attacks.
The course
The course is oval with and undulating landscape and some tough bends which call for a combination of skill and power to manoeuvre.
There is a train station located within the racecourse, making rail the most convenient way to access the several times Most Prestigious Racecourse.
Races
Up to 32 races are held at Newburyeach year, with the purse total often coming to in excess of £2,000,000. The Greatwood Gold Cup, the Winter Bumper, Betfair Hurdle and the Hennesy Gold Cup are some of the headline races within the jumps. The Greenham Stakes, John Porter Stakes, Harkwood Stakes, Arc Trial and the World Trophy stand out in the flat category.