Hereford Racecourse is a horse racing venue located in Hereford,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, owned by

Herefordshire Council Herefordshire Council is the local government authority for the county of Herefordshire in England. It is a unitary authority, combining the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district. History The council was formed on 1 April 1998 followi ...

and operated by

Arena Racing Company Arena Racing Company, also called ARC Racing and Leisure Group is a UK private company, created in 2012 by the merger of Arena Leisure and Northern Racing. It owns and operates 16 racecourses in Great Britain, accounting for 39% of British rac ...

. The course is almost square in shape with a circuit of about a mile-and-a-half.''

British Racing and Racecourses ''British Racing and Racecourses'' () published in 1971 with a first print run of 10,000,''Mum's the word for this lady racing expert'' Evening Telegraph – Tuesday, 16 March 1971 was written by the female equestrian writer, Marion Rose Halpenny, ...

'' () by

Marion Rose Halpenny Marion Rose Halpenny is an equestrian writer and horsewoman, born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, and known as the ''Lincolnshire turf authoress'',Your Chance for some horse trading – Racing by Geoff Ford – Evening Telegraph – Tuesday, 29 January 1 ...

- Page 145 The first recorded race meeting was held in August 1771. The course was greatly modernised in the 1960s, with also in 1966 a photo-finish camera being installed. Having failed to obtain a new lease from the

ceased operations there in December 2012. with the final Thoroughbred race meeting being held on 16 December 2012. This ended over 240 years of racing at the course. It continued to be used for Arabian racing. It was also used by the North Herefordshire Hunt for a point to point in May 2014, two point to points in 2015, and also in 2016 when point to points were staged by the North Ledbury in April and the North Herefordshire Hunt at the end of May. The course reopened for National Hunt racing on 6 October 2016, with 3 other fixtures also scheduled. The reopening fixture was attended by a crowd of 4,500, with Rather Be, trained by

Nicky Henderson Nicholas John Henderson (born 10 December 1950) is a British racehorse trainer. He has been British jump racing Champion Trainer six times. Background His father was Johnny Henderson who was one of the founders of the Racecourse Holdings Tru ...

winning the first race, ridden by Andrew Tinkler. In 2017 the course staged 11 National Hunt Fixtures spread between January and March and October to December. The North Herefordshire Hunt and Ledbury Point to Points were due to be staged at the course in the spring of 2017 but both were abandoned after an exceptionally dry spring led to unsafe hard ground. Two National Hunt meetings in the autumn of 2017 were transferred to

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

after a dry late summer and autumn coupled with an inability to sufficiently water the course meant the ground was too hard to ensure safe racing ground. In 2018 the track was allocated 11 days racing and picked up an extra day in April after several meetings around the country were cancelled due to the exceptionally wet and cold spring. The North Ledbury Point to Point was held in April. That is was the only Point to Point held at the course following the decision of the North Herefordshire Hunt to switch venues after the cancellation of their 2017 meeting. The North Ledbury Hunt did use the course again in 2019 however no Point to Point Racing now takes place at the racecourse and both Hunts no longer hold a Point to Point meeting. In August 2018 construction of a reservoir in the centre of the course commenced. This will enable the track to be watered without relying on a limited supply from a shared borehole. Use of the reservoir commenced in 2019.

Other sporting events

In 1978 the racecourse hosted the final of Motorcycle's

European Grasstrack Championship The European Grasstrack Championship is a motorcycle championship and is organised by FIM Europe. The first championship took place in 1978 at Hereford Racecourse, England and was won by Chris Baybutt. The competitors qualified though two semi-f ...

. A

cricket ground Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

which has hosted

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

lies within the racecourse. There is a sports centre on the east side of the course accessed off the A49 and some of the outdoor sports facilities are in the centre of the track. There is a golf course located in the centre of the track.

References

External links

Hereford Racecourse (Official website)Course guide on GG.COMCourse guide on At The Races
Sports venues in Herefordshire 1771 establishments in England Horse racing venues in England Sports venues completed in 1771 {{England-horseracing-venue-stub