Newbury Racecourse

Newbury

The Berkshire Stand and The Grandstand
Location	Newbury, Berkshire
Coordinates
Date opened	26 September 1905
Screened on	Racing UK
Course type	Flat National Hunt
Notable races	Lockinge Stakes, Hennessy Gold Cup, Challow Novices' Hurdle
Official website

Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse 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 31 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

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 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 Charles 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.

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.

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, weddings and Hen and Stag parties.

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 minutes late, but the rest of the day's racing was abandoned.

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 had been identified as the cause of death, consistent with accidental electrocution being the cause of death, and that no other cause of death was being 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.

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 6y	3yo only f
May	Saturday	Lockinge Stakes	Flat	Group 1	1m	4yo +
June	Thursday	Ballymacoll Stud Stakes	Flat	Conditions	1m 2f 6y	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	Washington Singer Stakes	Flat	Conditions	7f	2yo only
September	Friday	Haynes, Hanson and Clark Conditions Stakes	Flat	Conditions	1m	2yo only
September	Saturday	Arc Trial	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 5y	3yo +
October	Saturday	Horris Hill Stakes	Flat	Group 3	7f	2yo only
November	Thursday	Gerry Feilden Hurdle	Hurdle	Handicap	2m 110y	4yo+
November	Thursday	Worcester 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	Hennessy Gold Cup	Chase	Grade 3	3m 2f 110y	4yo +
December	29th	Challow Novices' Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	2m 5f	4yo +

External links

• Official website