Category: Racecourses

How long is the run-in on the Grand National Course?

The Grand National Course consists of sixteen fences, fourteen of which are jumped twice, making thirty obstacles in all. However, even after four miles and thirty fences, the Grand National is still far from over, because runners and riders still face the physically and psychologically exhausting run-in. At 494 yards, or over a quarter-of-a-mile, long, the run-in on the Grand National Course is already the longest in Britain and made more challenging still by a a right-handed dog-leg – the infamous ‘Elbow’ – at halfway.

Indeed, it was at that point that jockey Richard Pitman made the ‘schoolboy mistake’ of reaching for his whip, causing his mount, Crisp, to veer left, thereby losing two or three lengths – or, in other words, further than the threequarters-of-a-length he was beaten by the eventual winner, Red Rum – in the 1973 Grand National. Of course, Crisp wasn’t the first, or the last, horse to suffer a reversal of fortune on the run-in in the Grand National. In 1954, Devon Loch, owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, inexplicably collapsed yards from the winning post, with the race at his mercy, handing victory to his nearest pursuer, ESB.

How steep is the ‘Cheltenham hill’?

Cheltenham Racecourse, in Prestbury Park, Gloucestershire, is home to the four-day Cheltenham Festival, staged annually in March and, undoubtedly, the highlight of the British National Hunt season. During the Festival, most of the racing takes place on the Old Course, on the Tuesday and Wednesday, and the New Course, on the Thursday and Friday. Both courses are left-handed, undulating and feature a stiff, uphill finish, known colloquially as the ‘Cheltenham hill’.

On the New Course, in particular, where the emphasis is on stamina, rather than speed, conversation invariably turns to the severity of the ‘hill’, which has taken on mythical proportions and garnered a fearsome, if not entirely warranted, reputation. The stiffness of the finish is, no doubt, exacerbated by the pronounced downhill run to the home turn, but the ‘hill’ is not, as some commentators suggest, the ‘north face of the Eiger’. In fact, over the last three furlongs, the ground rises just 10 metres, or 33 feet, with a percentage slope of just 1.67%. Indeed, the angle between the horizontal plane and the surface of the ‘Cheltenham hill’ is less than 1º so, while it has been the scene of many iconic finishes, it is nowhere near as steep as folklore suggests.

Which England county has most racecourses?

All told, mainland Britain is home to 60 racecourses, five of which are in Scotland and three of which are in Wales. Of the 52 racecourses located in England, it should come as no great surprise that the largest conglomeration is found in Yorkshire which is, after all, the largest historic county in the country. Yorkshire has nine racecourses, six of which cater exclusively for Flat racing and three of which are dual purpose.

Starting in the extreme north of the county, Redcar, home of the Zetland Gold Cup, is a Flat-only venue, as are its North Yorkshire neighbours Ripon and Thirsk. Catterick, or Catterick Bridge, though, also stages National Hunt racing, including the North Yorkshire Grand National every January. Beverley, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and Pontefract, in West Yorkshire, are also Flat-only venues, but Wetherby, also in West Yorkshire, has been dual-purpose since 2015. York, in the heart of the county, is a Grade One Flat track, famous for the Juddmonte International, Nunthorpe and Yorkshire Oaks while, further south, Doncaster is home to the oldest British Classic, the St. Leger.

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