How many furlongs are in a mile?

Every sport has its own terminology. For example, for horse racing, how many furlongs are in one mile?

The answer is eight.

And there are two-hundred-and-one metres in a furlong. An average race horse can run a furlong in about twelve seconds which, is an impressive forty miles per hour (mph).

So a furlong is an eighth of a mile or two-hundred and twenty yards.

In the UK thoroughbred race horses run over a minimum distance of five-furlong, which on average takes about one minute to complete (on average 6 seconds for 100m). Times vary from racecourse to racecourse. Epsom, which is predominantly downhill, is reputed to be the fastest courses in the world. In fact, the current world record is 53:69 seconds, set by a horse named Stone Of Folca in 2012.

The longest Flat race distance is about two miles four furlongs. In fact the Queen Alexander Stakes run at Ascot in June covers a distance of two miles five furlongs and one hundred and forty three yards. It is the longest professional Flat race in the world.

There are 60 racecourses in the UK, predominantly on the turf with a handful taking part on the all-weather tracks.

The National Hunt racing distances vary from 1 ½ miles (National Hunt Flat race) to 4 ½ miles regarding the Grand National which takes part at Aintree, Liverpool. The place where legendary racehorse Red Rum won in 1973, 1974 and 1977.

The UK is one of the best places in the world to enjoy horse racing.

 

How long has Richard Hannon Jnr. held a training licence?

One of triplets born in November, 1975, Richard Hannon Jnr. is the son of Richard Hannon Snr., who won the British Flat Trainers’ Championship four times, in 1992, 2010, 2011 and 2013. Hannon Jnr. served as assistant trainer to his father for twelve years before finally taking over the training licence on January 1, 2014. He wasted little time in chalking up his first winner as a trainer, saddling debutante Unscripted – subsequently renamed Ho Lee Horse – to a 10-length victory in a maiden stakes race at Wolverhampton two days later.

Indeed, having inherited a formidable string of horses from his father, Hannon Jnr. enjoyed a stellar first season. He won his first British Classic, the 2,000 Guineas, at the first attempt with Night Of Thunder and went on to win four more Group 1 races, namely the Lockinge Stakes and the Prix de la Forest, both with Olympic Glory, the Queen Anne Stakes, with Toronado, and the Cheveley Park Stakes, with Tiggy Wiggy. All told, Hannon Jnr. Saddled 206 winners on British soil, 32 fewer than his father had done in his final, title-winning season, but still sufficient to take the trainers’ title at the first time of asking.

Nowadays, Hannon operates two separate yards, a couple of miles apart. He is based at the newer of the two, Herridge House, near Marlborough, with the original yard at East Everleigh acting as a ‘satellite’ yard. At the time of writing, in 2021 he has, so far, saddled 128 winners from 1,052 runners, at a strike rate of just over 12%.

Which horse was the leading earner for Shadwell Estates in 2021?

Which horse was the leading earner for Shadwell Estates in 2021? Shadwell Estates is the racing and breeding operation of the late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who died in March, 2021, at the age of 75. Shadwell Estates continues to be operated by the Al Maktoum family and dozens of horses have carried the famous blue and white colours with distinction in 2021. In fact, in the calendar year so, Shadwell Estates registered 128 winners from 620 runners on British soil, at a strike rate of 21%, and amassed £3.78 million in prize money. As far as the Flat Owners’ Championship was concerned, 105 winners and £3.49 million in prize money fell between May 1 and October 16, such that Shadwell Estates finished in second place, behind only Godolphin.

The leading money earner for Shadwell Estates in 2021 was, not altogether surprisingly, the Sea The Stars colt Baeed, who didn’t see a racecourse until June, but remained unbeaten throughout his 3-year-old campaign. Trained by William Haggas, Baeed won his first four starts, including the Group 3 Bonham Thoroughbred Stakes at Goodwood in July, without being seriously challenged, before stepping up to Group 1 company for the first time at Longchamp in September. He won the Prix de Moulin de Longchamp by 1¼ lengths from Order Of Australia and completed an oustanding season with a neck defeat of Palace Pier in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot the following month. His earnings for 2021 amounted to £949,377.

Who was Walter Swinburn?

The late Walter Swinburn, who suffered a fatal head injury when falling from the bathroom window of his home in Belgravia, London in 2016, at the age of 55, was a former jockey and trainer. Swinburn had suffered from post-traumatic epilepsy after a near-fatal riding accident at Sha Tin, Hong Kong in 1996, which may, or may not, have contributed to his death.

Swinburn rode his first winner, Paddy’s Luck, at Kempton in July, 1978 and enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks, thanks in no small part to the tutelage of Herbert ‘Frenchie’ Nicholson and Reg Hollinshead. By 1980, he had not only ridden out his claim, but had been appointed stable jockey to Michael Stoute – in the days before his knighthood – for the following season. Nicknamed the ‘Choirboy’ in his heyday, because of his fresh-faced, angelic looks, Swinburn was still only 19 years of age when he rode the ill-fated Shergar to a record 10-length win in the Derby in 1981.

All told, Swinburn won a total of eight British Classics and recorded numerous high-profile successes at home and abroad, including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on All Along in 1983 and the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Pilsudski in 1996, to name but two, before retiring from the saddle in 2000. Four years later, he took over the training licence at Church Farm in Tring, Hertfordshire from his father-in-law, Peter Harris, and enjoyed a reasonably successful training career before handing in his licence, due to financial constraints, in 2011.

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