Known by Worcester city residents as Pitchcroft, Worcester Racecourse is an obvious go-to place when looking for scintillating summer horseracing action in Worcestershire, UK. The sprawling racecourse that sits on nearly 100 acres of land at the banks of River Severn offers an inviting scenery and plays host to remarkable jump racing every season. Although the Pitchcroft maintains centuries-old British traditions of National Hunt races, here you’ll also find cutting-edge and well-maintained racing facilities. Worcester Racecourse is the perfect place to find old-school horseracing action coupled with any and all mod-cons thinkable.
Worcester Racecourse History
Horseracing has been taking place at Pitchcroft since at least the early 1700s, with the hosting of flat races at River Severn banks. With the rapid growth of the sport, by mid-18th century, the present Worcester Racecourse held the first yearly flat horseracing fixture. Flat racing dominated the Worcester Racecourse for the next 200 years until 1966 when it was discontinued. Since then, the Pitchcroft has been used as the centre stage of National Hunt races in Worcestershire. Numerous transformations have happened at the racecourse over the years including 1880’s new course layout that resembles figure 8. A number of notable races took place at Worcester Racecourse in the 19th century like the Gold Cup and the Worcester Stakes.
Worcester Racecourse Historic Races
There are several themed racing events held at Pitchcroft that are usually tailored for entire family’s excitement. September starts with the Family Fun Day that includes ample activities for kids. The Caribbean Nights meetings is more focused on entertaining adults and also comprises of enjoying sumptuous cocktails as well as live music.
Worcester Racecourse Racetrack
The racetrack has an oval shape and has a length of about 13 furlongs. The racecourse has had more than a fair share of troubles as it lacks winter racing due to flooding. This necessitated the introduction of summer racing in the 1990s. However, racing slotted for the summer of 2007 was put off due to summer flooding that damaged the racecourse.