Salisbury Racecourse is a flat racecourse in the United Kingdom featuring

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

, southwest of

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England. Fifteen race meetings a year are held there between early May and mid-October.

History

Racing at the track, located three miles from Salisbury, has taken place since the mid-16th century. Many great horses have won at the racecourse including

Gimcrack Gimcrack (1760 – after 1777) was an English thoroughbred racehorse. Background Gimcrack was a small grey horse at 14.2 hands sired by Cripple, a son of the Godolphin Arabian, his dam Miss Elliot was by (Grisewood's) Partner. Racing career ...

(1768), Eclipse (1769), Sun Chariot (1941),

Mill Reef Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine ear ...

(1970) and

Brigadier Gerard Brigadier Gerard is the comedic hero of a series of 17 historical short stories, a play, and a major character in a novel by the British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. Brigadier Etienne Gerard is a Hussar officer in the French Army during the Napoleon ...

(1970).

Sir Percy Sir Percy (foaled 2003) is a British Thoroughbred race horse and sire. In a career which lasted from July 2005 to June 2007 he ran ten times and won five races. he was among the leading British two-year-olds of 2005, when his win included the De ...

, winner of the 2006 Derby, and Look Here, winner of the 2008 Oaks, had both won at Salisbury the previous year.

Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

, the jockey, first rode in public at Salisbury in 1948 when he was an apprentice jockey aged twelve and weighed only five stone. American jockey

Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen (born May 1, 1960) is a retired American jockey. In 1977 he became the first jockey to win over $6 million in a year working with agent Lenny Goodman, and in 1978 he became the youngest jockey to win the U. S. ...

made his British debut at the course in 1979 when he rode Marquee Universal to victory here. It was here in 1949 that

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

first raced Colonist II in the one mile Upavon Stakes. The horse won, and went on to win the

Ribblesdale Stakes The Ribblesdale Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards (2,406 metres), and it i ...

at Ascot later that year.

The racecourse

About sixteen race meetings take place at Salisbury Racecourse each year between late April and mid-October. It is a downland flat-racing course with no jumps. There is a mix of race types with the majority being handicaps, where horses of similar ability race against each other, and maidens, where horses which have yet to win a race compete. The course is also renowned for its races for two-year-olds, and many of these young horses have gone on to achieve great things.

Notable races

Other races

* Stonehenge Stakes Salisbury's earliest big race was the King's Plate for 6-year-olds, awarded by

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

in 1723.

References

External links

*
Salisbury Racecourse Facebook pageCourse guide on GG.COM, archived in December 2005Course guide on At The Races, archived in September 2007
{{Horse racing in Great Britain Horse racing venues in England Sports venues in Wiltshire Sports venues completed in 1723 1723 establishments in England