Category: Racecourses

Horse racing is one of the most popular sports in the UK. Races are held up and down the country every week and attract huge crowds with millions more watching on television and streaming apps. How did horse racing begin in the UK? Why is it so popular? Read on to find out more about horse racing in the UK and how it became a part of British culture.

All Roads Lead To Rome

The history of horse racing in the UK traces its roots back to the age of the Roman Empire. The original rules of the sport, its traditions, and its place in British culture go back to the days of classical antiquity. For thousands of years, horse racing has been a hugely popular spectator sport, and the British people embraced it like no other. Horse racing is now one of the world’s most popular sports, with races being held daily across the world. Its popularity in Britain and the spread of the British Empire undoubtedly helped bring the sport to a wider, worldwide audience.

The Sport Of Kings

Horse racing in the United Kingdom became an established part of British life and a constant presence in the British sporting calendar in the early 18th Century. King Charles II was the first British monarch to embrace horse racing, and his enthusiasm helped to make it one of the biggest sports in the country by the early 1700s.

The Jockey Club was established in 1750, and one of its early members, Admiral Rous, helped established the handicapping and weight systems that are still in use today. Very quickly, racecourses were built across the UK including Newmarket, Ascot, and Cheltenham, and many courses created big event races to help draw large annual crowds.

Racing Across The UK

As racing became more popular, more and more racecourses opened across the United Kingdom. Though racehorse ownership was too expensive for the common man, they could still enjoy the events and get in on the action by betting on horses. Betting was informal at first, but soon became an established part of the sport both at the tracks and further afield.

Today, people can bet on horse races across the world from the phone in their pocket. Check out this review of the best horse racing betting sites in the UK to find out where you can place a bet on a race. This has become one of the biggest drivers of fans to the sport, with bookmakers offering live streaming of races to people who place bets on their apps and websites.

Big Races Are Big Events

Of all of Britain’s great races, The Grand National stands out. Every year families, work colleagues, and friends create their own sweepstakes for the event. Some will place money bets on the race, and many will simply have a bag of sweets for the winner. No matter what the stakes are, the whole country embraces the race every year and it is a major cultural event for the nation.

The popularity of The Grand National is a testament to horse racing’s place in the hearts of the public. Even those who do not follow horse races throughout the year will still follow The Grand National at Aintree, making it one of the highest-viewed sporting events that often rivals football’s FA Cup final for domestic viewing numbers.

Save The Dates

Horse racing in the UK never ends, with races happening all year round at different courses across the country. The festival season begins in March with Cheltenham, and this is often seen as the signal for the beginning of the big races that keep going all the way to Christmas. The Grand National follows in April, with the Chester Races in May and Royal Ascot in June. Every month has its big racing festival that draws the biggest crowds and fastest horses. The culture of horse racing in the United Kingdom

The big racing festivals are just the tip of the horse racing iceberg. There is a race happening somewhere nearly every day of the year. Britain is the epicentre of horse racing for the whole world, both historically and culturally, enjoying a race on these shores is a rite of passage for racing fans the world over.

At the last count, Jockey Club Racecourses, which was established, as Racecourse Holdings Trust, in 1964, owned 14 racecourses. In chronological order, by the date on which they were acquired, those racecourses are Cheltenham, Wincanton, Nottingham, Market Rasen, Newmarket, Haydock, Aintree, Huntingdon, Epsom Downs, Kempton Park, Sandown Park, Carlisle and Exeter.

Epsom Downs, Kempton Park,Sandown Park were added to the Jockey Club portfolio in 1994, a year after the formation of the British Horseracing Board (BHB), which took over the governance of the sport. Carlisle was added in 2001 and Exeter in 2007, by which time the Horserace Regulatory Authority (HRA) had been established to replace the Jockey Club as the regulator of horse racing in Britain.

Shortly after Exeter joined Jockey Club Racecourses, the BHB and HRB merged to create the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), a single body to govern and regulate the sport of horse racing. The formation of the BHA freed the Jockey Club to focus on its commercial interests, which include not only Jockey Club Racecourses, but also the National Stud in Newmarket.

As far as horse racing is concerned, Happy Valley Racecourse is one of two popular facilities operated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the other being Sha Tin Racecourse. Originally built by the British military, on an area of previously uninhabitable wetland in the Wan Chai District, in the north of Hong Kong island, Happy Valley Racecourse staged its first fixtures in December 1846. The name ‘Happy Valley’ is euphemistic, probably derived from the presence of a cemetery and/or the high rate of malaria in early Hong Kong.

It would be fair to say that Happy Valley Racecourse has been superceded by the larger, more modern Sha Tin Racecourse, which was built by the Hong Kong Jockey Club in 1978. The latter hosts the four most prestigious horses races in the Hong Kong racing calendar, namely the Hong Kong Cup, Hong Kong Mile, Hong Kong Sprint and Hong Kong Vase – collectively known as ‘Hong Kong International Races’ – annually in December.

However, unlike Sha Tin Racecourse, Happy Valley Racecourse enjoys a central location, surrounded by a soaring city skyline. So-called ‘Happy Wednesday’ is particularly popular with Hong Kong residents and tourists alike. Floodlit horse racing, cheap admission, no dress code and live music combine to create a lively, exciting atmosphere and a social occasion as much as a horse racing experience.

Long before playing the best paying casino online was an option, readers of a certain age may well remember Garrison Savannah, a top-class steeplechaser trained by Jenny Pitman. In 1990, Garrison Savannah upstaged his better-fancied stable companion, Royal Athlete, by winning the Sun Alliance Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. However, in 1991 he looked, briefly, as if he might join the legendary Golden Miller as a winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season. He only just held on when beating The Fellow by a short head in the ‘Blue Riband’ event but, less than a month later, established what appeared to be an unassailable lead on the run to the final fence in the National. Sadly, for him, it wasn’t; he weakened from the Elbow and was headed by Seagram, who forged clear in the closing stages to win by 5 lengths.

Garrison Savannah, the horse, was named after Garrison Savannah, the racecourse, which is situated just east of Bridgetown, the capital city of Barbados, and is home to the Barbados Turf Club. Considered one of the finest parade grounds in the West Indies during colonial times, Garrison Savannah has been the home of horse racing on the tiny island since the middle of the nineteenth century. As such, it is one of the oldest racecourses in North or South America. The next time you’re stateside and playing the best online slots usa, consider what amazing sights and history is out there for lovers of betting and sport. The Sandy Lane Gold Cup, run over 1,800 metres, or approximately nine furlongs, on the first Saturday in March, is the most prestigious race of the year at Garrison Savannah.