Newbury Racecourse

Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse and events venue in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat races, the Lockinge Stakes.

Horserace finishing at Newbury
Crowds at Newbury
Cois Farraig jumps the last in front at Newbury
Tony McCoy, Aigle D'or, J. P. McManus & Nicky Henderson
Newbury Racecourse Road, view from the Nuffield Health Gym
Newbury Racecourse Road, view from the main corner with the main entrance

Newbury Racecourse
The Berkshire Stand and The Grandstand
LocationNewbury, Berkshire
Coordinates51°23′40″N 1°18′2″W
Date opened26 September 1905
Screened onRacing TV
Course typeFlat
National Hunt
Notable racesLockinge Stakes, Hennessy Gold Cup, Challow Novices' Hurdle
Official website

History

The racecourse held its first race meeting on 26/27 September 1905 at its current location, in the Greenham area on the south-east side of Newbury.

The first recorded racing at Newbury took place in 1805 with "Newbury Races", an annual two-day race meeting at Enborne Heath. The meeting lasted until 1811 when it transferred to Woodhay Heath until 1815.

Newbury Racecourse didn't come into existence for another 90 years when Kingsclere trainer, John Porter proposed a new racecourse at Newbury. The Jockey Club had laid down strict qualifications for new racecourses and after Porter's plans were rejected several times, a chance meeting with King Edward VII brought about a further application which with the King's support was approved by the Jockey Club.

In April 1904 the Newbury Racecourse Company was formed and purchased the land and then construction began of the buildings and stables at a cost of £57,240.

On September 26 and 27, 1905 the first ever racemeeting took place at Newbury Racecourse with Copper King ridden by Charlie Trigg and trained by Charles Marnes winning the opening race, the Whatcombe Handicap. Marnes was presented with a Silver Cup (value £25) and Trigg received a gold mounted whip (value £10).

It was fitting that John Porter trained Zelis to win the Regulation Plate on September 27 providing the only winner at Newbury for course’s founder as he retired from training at the end of the 1905 season.

National Hunt racing followed shortly after Flat racing and in 1906, nine days racing were planned for Newbury in 1906 – six on the Flat and three over Jumps. A members badge which also covered the two days in 1905 was priced at 7 guineas.

During the First World War Newbury Racecourse was used as a prisoner-of-war camp for German prisoners.[1][2]

Notable events

Queen Elizabeth II spent her 86th birthday at Newbury Racecourse. She watched the races from the Royal Box although her two horses, Sequence ridden by Ryan Moore and Momentary ridden by Hayley Turner, did not win.[3]

On 14 August 2010, Irish vocal pop band Westlife held a concert for Where We Are Tour supporting their album Where We Are.

Each year the racecourse hosts two music nights, with acts in recent years including: Jess Glynne, Olly Murs, Craig David, Rudimental and Sir Tom Jones.

Facilities
See also: Newbury Racecourse railway station

The racecourse has a dedicated railway station, which sees heavy traffic and additional trains on race days. It also acts as a venue for conferences, meetings, weddings and Hen and Stag parties.[4]

2011 incident

On 12 February 2011, two horses, Marching Song and Fenix Two, collapsed and died in the Paddock while parading for the first race of the day. Two others also appeared to have been affected, Kid Cassidy and The Merry Giant. The novice hurdle race went ahead, starting about 20 min late, but the rest of the day's racing was abandoned.[5][6]

On 17 February, the preliminary results of the investigation into the incident were released.

Professor Tim Morris, Director of Equine Science and Welfare for the British Horseracing Authority, reported that they had been informed that there had been leakage from an electrical cable running under the parade ring. Both the horses had been examined postmortem and sudden cardiac arrest, consistent with accidental electrocution, had been identified as the cause of death and no other cause of death was further investigated.

Professor Morris also stated:

I can also confirm that, contrary to speculation, no evidence of any burn marks around the mouth was found on post mortem examination, neither were such marks found by the veterinary surgeons on the horses at the start.[7]

Notable races
Month DOW Race Name Type Grade Distance Age/Sex
February Saturday Game Spirit Chase Chase Grade 2 2m 1f 5yo +
February Saturday Betfair Hurdle Hurdle Grade 3 2m 110y 4yo +
February Saturday Denman Chase Chase Grade 2 3m 5yo +
February Saturday Winter Bumper N H Flat Conditions 2m 110y 4yo-6yo
March Saturday Greatwood Gold Cup Chase Grade 3 2m 4f 5yo +
April Saturday Fred Darling Stakes Flat Group 3 7f 3yo only f
April Saturday John Porter Stakes Flat Group 3 1m 4f 5y 4yo +
April Saturday Greenham Stakes Flat Group 3 7f 3yo only
May Saturday Fillies' Trial Stakes Flat Conditions 1m 2f 3yo only f
May Saturday Carnarvon Stakes Flat Conditions 6f 3yo only
May Saturday Aston Park Stakes Flat Conditions 1m 4f 3yo only f
May Saturday Lockinge Stakes Flat Group 1 1m 4yo +
June Thursday Abingdon Stakes Flat Conditions 1m 2f 3yo only f
July Saturday Weatherbys Super Sprint Flat Conditions 5f 34y 2yo only
July Saturday Hackwood Stakes Flat Group 3 6f 8y 3yo +
August Friday St Hugh's Stakes Flat Conditions 5f 34y 2yo only f
August Saturday Geoffrey Freer Stakes Flat Group 3 1m 5f 61y 3yo +
August Saturday Hungerford Stakes Flat Group 2 7f 3yo +
August Saturday Denford Stakes Flat Conditions 7f 2yo only
September Friday Haynes, Hanson and Clark Conditions Stakes Flat Conditions 1m 2yo only
September Saturday Legacy Cup Flat Group 3 1m 3f 5y 3yo +
September Saturday Mill Reef Stakes Flat Group 2 6f 8y 2yo only
September Saturday World Trophy Flat Group 3 5f 34y 3yo +
October Saturday St. Simon Stakes Flat Group 3 1m 4f 3yo +
October Saturday Horris Hill Stakes Flat Group 3 7f 2yo only
November Thursday Gerry Feilden Hurdle Hurdle Handicap 2m 110y 4yo+
November Thursday John Francome Novices' Chase Chase Grade 2 3m 4yo +
November Friday Berkshire Novices' Chase Chase Grade 2 2m 4f 4yo +
November Saturday Long Distance Hurdle Hurdle Grade 2 3m 110y 4yo +
November Saturday Ladbrokes Trophy Chase Grade 3 3m 2f 110y 4yo +
December 29th Challow Novices' Hurdle Hurdle Grade 1 2m 5f 4yo +
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References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Great War Forum
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Royal Berkshire Regiment Great War Project
  3. Ted Thornhill, "The Queen celebrates her birthday at the races while a 62-gun salute marks the occasion in explosive style in London" Archived 20 April 2013 at Archive.today, Daily Mail, 21 April 2012
  4. "Corporate events, race sponsorship and venue hire at Newbury Racecourse". Newbury Racecourse. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  5. "Electrocution blamed as two horses die at Newbury races". BBC Sport. 12 February 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  6. J.A. McGrath and Adam Lusher "Horses drop dead in bizarre scenes at Newbury" Archived 31 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Telegraph website, 12 February 2011
  7. Newbury Racecourse statement (retrieved 22 February 2011) Archived 21 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine

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