Tag: racecourse

How are racecourses graded?

Each racecourse in Britain is officially graded 1, 2, 3 or 4, depending on the General Prize Find (GPF) grant it receives from the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB). The HBLB is a statutory body, established by the Betting Levy Act 1961, which annually collects a percentage of bookmakers’ gross profit from horse racing as the so-called Horserace Betting Levy.

General Prize Fund (GPF) grants, which must be paid out as prize money, are calculated annually based on the Executive Contribution (EC), or ‘merit’ – that is, the amount of prize money contributed by the racecourse authority – and the amount of off-course betting turnover generated by fixtures in the last three years for which figures are available. The grade of a racecourse can also impact peoples approach to racing tips. There’s a prestige aspect too of course.

Essentially, the higher the GPF grant, the higher the grade of the racecourse. Newmarket, for example, which stages nine Group One races during the season, received just over £2 million in 2018 and is classified as Grade 1. By contrast, Carlisle, which stages just one Class 1 race – the Listed Eternal Stakes, worth just shy of £40,000 in total prize money – received just over £165,000 in 2018 and is classified as Grade 4. Note that the grade of a racecourse does not, necessarily, reflect the standard of the facilities available for owners, trainers, jockeys or the racing public, but it is not unreasonable to expect a gulf between the best and the worst, consummate with the grade.

Much like in the football world, where all factors that feed into your football predictions matter, whether a stadium or a racecourse, its important to know the state of the terrain you’re playing or racing on.

Where, and what is the Carholme?

The Carholme, or West Common, is a large area of common land to the west of the city centre of Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire, in the East Midlands of England. Nowadays, West Common, which is designated as an area of critical asset and nature conservation importance, constitutes 100 hectares or so of the Witham Valley Country Park. However, from a horse racing perspective, the Carholme was the site of Lincoln Racecourse which, between 1853 and 1964, played host to the race that would become the Lincoln Handicap.

Lincoln Racecourse moved to the Carholme in the late eighteenth century and was improved, including the addition of the first grandstand, at the cost of £7,000 to Lincoln Corporation, in 1826. In 1897, a new grandstand – parts of which, albeit disused, still stand – was built in brick, stone and cast iron to replace the earlier structure. Lincoln Racecourse served as an airfield during World War I, but the popularity of racing at the course suffered a steady decline throughout the twentieth century. Finally, in 1964, the Horse Race Betting Levy Board announced that it was withdrawing its subsidy for Lincoln Racecourse, thereby forcing its closure.

Why is Chester Racecourse called the ‘Roodee’?

Established in 1539, during the reign of Henry VIII, Chester Racecourse has being the oldest racecourse still in operation, not just in the United Kingdom, but in the world. It is also the smallest circuit in the country, less than nine furlongs around, and constantly on the turn. Nevertheless, the May Festival, at the start of the season, attracts some of the best horses in Britain, Ireland and elsewhere in Europe.

During the Roman occupation of Britain, the current site of Chester Racecourse was underwater but, in subsequent centuries, accumulation of silt produced an island in the River Dee. ‘Roodee’ is a corruption of ‘Rood Eye’ which, in turn, is a mixture of ancient Norse and Saxon meaning ‘Island of the Cross’. Indeed, a series of small raised mounds, known as ‘roods’, occupy the centre of the modern racecourse. One of them, marked with a stone cross, is reputedly the burial site of a statue of the Virgin Mary, which fell on, and killed, Lady Trawst, the wife of the Governor of Hawarden, while at prayer at church. Bizarrely, the statue was tried and found guilty but, being a holy artefact, could not be hanged, so was buried instead.

Where, and what, is the ‘Trundle’?

Also known as Saint Roche’s Hill, the ‘Trundle’ is a vantage point high on the South Downs, at an elevation of 675 feet, approximately three miles north of the cathedral city of Chichester, West Sussex in South East England. Strictly speaking, the ‘Trundle’ refers to an Iron Age hill fort on Saint Roche’s Hill, the ditches and embankments marking the perimeter of which are still clearly visible, but nowadays the names are often used interchangeably. The name ‘Trundle’ is derived from the Old English word ‘tryndel’, or its variant ‘trendel’, meaning ‘circle’ or ‘ring’.

The top of the Trundle offers panoramic views across the coastal plain, and the English Channel beyond, to the south and the Weald to the north. In particular, from a horse racing perspective, the northeastern slope of the Trundle offers a clear view of Goodwood Racecourse, making it a popular, inexpensive, albeit slightly remote, viewing platform when racing is in progress. In 1933, the Duke of Richmond fenced in most of the Trundle and built an admission gate to create the ‘Trundle Enclosure’, with an admission fee of 3/- per person. The Trundle may not be as popular a vantage point as it once was, but is easily accessible by car, with a car park near the top, and nowadays offers free grandstand views of the racecourse.

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