 | |
| Location | Ayr, Scotland |
|---|---|
| Date opened | 1907 |
| Screened on | Racing TV |
| Course type | Flat National Hunt |
| Notable races | Scottish Grand National Ayr Gold Cup |
| Official website | |
Ayr Racecourse at Whitletts Road, Ayr, Scotland, [1] was opened in 1907. [1] There are courses for flat and for National Hunt racing.
Horse racing in Ayr dates back to 1576, but the first official meeting did not take place until 1771 [2] at a racecourse situated in the Seafield area of the town. This first racecourse was a mile oval with sharp bends.
In the early days, racing was supported by the local landed gentry and members of the Caledonian Hunt. Important figures in the course's history have included the Earl of Eglinton, Sir James Boswell and the Duke of Portland. [2]
In 1824, Ayr's most important race meeting, the Western Meeting, was established and by 1838 it offered £2000 in prize money and the most valuable two-year-old race of the season in Britain. The meeting's feature race, the Ayr Gold Cup, became a handicap race in 1855 and is now the richest sprint handicap in Europe. [2]
Due to the small size of the track and limitations on the size of the paddock, a new site for the racecourse was eventually sought and in 1907, the course was moved to its current location in the Craigie area of town. After extensive research into other British courses, the new course layout was based on that of Newbury, with the exception that Ayr's straight course is six furlongs rather than a mile. [2] The former racecourse is now playing fields, known as the Old Racecourse, and part of Seafield golf course. Local road names Racecourse Road and Racecourse View also reflect this history.
The Western Club, who owned the course, built the Western House (1919-25) initially as a club house, which later became a hotel and events venue. [3] [4] It is a listed building and an example of Arts and Crafts influenced architecture by Harold Tarbolton. [5]
A jumps track was added in 1950 and in 1966 the Scottish Grand National was transferred to the track after Bogside Racecourse was closed down. [2] It is now regarded as the premier racecourse in Scotland. [6]
Ayr Racecourse hosts numerous race meets throughout the year, but the two primary ones are over jumps in April and on the Flat in September. The Scottish National festival runs for two days every April and is a Grade 3 handicap National Hunt steeplechase race. The Grand National race itself is broadcast live on ITV annually, and more than 20,000 attendees see it live at the track itself. Flat handicap race the Ayr Gold Cup is run over six furlongs every September, with eight races taking place throughout the day. [7]
Flat races at Ayr are run over the following distances:
The track is a left-handed oval of 12 furlongs including a half mile run in. A six furlong chute joins the round track after just over a furlong. The course is generally flat, with gentle undulations, particularly in the straight. The turns are well graded and it can be regarded as basically a fair track. [8] The turn approaching the straight is slightly downhill, and those prominent can gain an advantage once in line for home. Sprints are held over the straight course. It is a particularly wide course which allows sprints to have fields of up to 28. The jumps course is left-handed with nine fences. There is a steady downhill run to the home turn and a gentle rise to the finish. There is a run-in of 210 yards after the last.
Hurdle races are run over distances of:
Chases are run over:
The jumps course is a left-handed one and a half mile circuit with nine fences. It runs downhill to the home turn and thereafter there is a gentle rise to the finish, a run-in of 210 yards. Conditions can get extremely gruelling. [9]
The paddock stand at Ayr is named the Rothesay Stand in honour of Charles and Camilla, Duke and Duchess of Rothesay. [10]
Ayr has been voted Best Racecourse in Scotland and the North East nineteen times by the Racegoers Club, including nine years in a row up until 2013. [11]
It has also won the Neil Wyatt Ground Staff Award for the Best Dual Purpose Course twice – in 1996 and 2011. [12] This award is voted on by representatives of the National Trainers Federation and Professional Jockeys' Association to recognise the achievements of racecourse groundstaff.
In 2012, Ayr was nominated in two categories in the Racecourse Association Showcase Awards [13] – the Food and Beverage and Owners' Experience categories, winning the latter. [14]
It has been designated a five star visitor attraction by VisitScotland. [15]
| Month | DOW | Race Name | Type | Grade | Distance | Age/Sex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | Saturday | Scottish Grand National | Chase | Grade 3 | 4m ½f | 5yo + |
| April | Saturday | Scottish Champion Hurdle | Hurdle | Grade 2 | 2m | 4yo + |
| April | Saturday | Future Champion Novices' Chase | Chase | Grade 2 | 2m 4f | 5yo + |
| May | Wednesday | Rothesay Stakes | Flat | Listed | 1m 2f | 4yo + f |
| June | Saturday | Land O'Burns Fillies' Stakes | Flat | Listed | 5f | 3yo + f |
| September | Friday | Harry Rosebery Stakes | Flat | Listed | 5f | 2yo only |
| September | Friday | Arran Scottish Fillies' Sprint Stakes | Flat | Listed | 5f 110y | 3yo + f |
| September | Saturday | Doonside Cup | Flat | Listed | 1m 2f | 3yo + |
| September | Saturday | Firth of Clyde Stakes | Flat | Group 3 | 6f | 2yo only f |
| September | Saturday | Ayr Gold Cup | Flat | Handicap | 6f | 3yo + |
National Hunt racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to France, Great Britain and Ireland, that requires horses to jump over fences and ditches.
Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase, which takes place annually in April over three days. Aintree also holds meetings in May, October (Sunday), November and December.
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.
Leicester Racecourse is a horse racing course in Oadby, Leicestershire, about three miles south of the city centre.
Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horseracing and is home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations, including Tattersalls, the National Horseracing Museum and the National Stud. Newmarket hosts two of the country's five Classic Races – the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, and numerous other Group races. In total, it hosts 9 of British racing's 36 annual Group 1 races.
Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track together with a licensed entertainment and conference venue in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, on the border with Greater London; it is 13 miles west of Charing Cross in central London. The site has 210 acres of flat grassland surrounded by woodland with two lakes in its centre. Its entrance borders Kempton Park railway station which was created for racegoers on a branch line from London Waterloo, via Clapham Junction.
Wetherby Racecourse is a racecourse situated near the market town of Wetherby in West Yorkshire, England, located 12 miles (19 km) from Leeds city centre. For most of its history the course has hosted only National Hunt racing but staged its first Flat racing fixture on 26 April 2015.
The Scottish Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ayr, Scotland, over a distance of about 4 miles and during its running there are 27 fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and takes place each year in April. It is Scotland's equivalent of the Grand National, and is held during Ayr's two-day Scottish Grand National Festival meeting.
Catterick Racecourse, sometimes known as Catterick Bridge Racecourse, is a thoroughbred horse racing venue one mile north west of Catterick in North Yorkshire, England, near the hamlet of Catterick Bridge. The first racing at Catterick was held in 1783.
Kelso Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Kelso, Scotland. It is frequently described as "Britain's Friendliest Racecourse". It was voted the Best Small Course in Scotland and the North of England in 2007, 2012 and 2014 by the Racegoers Club. In addition to staging Scotland's most valuable hurdle race, the Morebattle Hurdle, Kelso stages a comparatively high number of Class 1, 2 & 3 races over jumps.
Musselburgh Racecourse is a horse racing venue located in the Millhill area of Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, UK, close to the River Esk. It is the second biggest racecourse in Scotland and is the fourteenth biggest in the UK. In 2016, Musselburgh staged 28 fixtures. It was officially known as "Edinburgh Racecourse", and referred to as such in the English press, until the beginning of 1996 but was widely referred to as "Musselburgh" in Scotland long before that and was widely referred to as Musselburgh in the racing pages of Scottish newspapers.
Newton Abbot Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located on the north bank of the River Teign in the parishes of Kingsteignton and Teigngrace just north of Newton Abbot, Devon, England. The course is a tight, flat left-handed oval of about 1 mile 1 furlong. There are seven relatively easy fences to a circuit and a very short run in to the finish.
Nottingham Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated at Colwick Park, close to the River Trent and about 3 km east of the city centre.
Ian Balding is a British retired horse trainer. He is the son of the polo player and racehorse trainer Gerald Matthews Balding and the younger brother of trainer Toby Balding. Ian Balding was born in the US, but his family returned to the UK in 1945. He was educated at Marlborough College and Millfield school in Somerset. He went up to Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1959 to read Rural Estate Management, where he played Rugby for the university team, gaining his Blue in 1961 at full back. He started training in 1964. Kingsclere became his home at the age of 26 and it is here that earned his reputation as an internationally respected trainer.
Lincoln Racecourse is a former horse racing venue to the west of the city of Lincoln, at Carholme, a flat tract of common land in Lincolnshire, England. It was the original location of the Lincolnshire Handicap. The course closed in 1964, and the following year the race relocated to Doncaster Racecourse where a small change to the race title sees it run as the Lincoln Handicap.
Bogside Racecourse was a horse racing track situated near the town of Irvine, Scotland, on the banks of the River Irvine, about 14 miles from Ayr.
Lanark Racecourse was a Scottish horse racing venue, situated in the small town of Lanark in Scotland's Central Belt, 25 miles (40 km) from Glasgow. It was reputedly founded by King William the Lion of Scotland (1165-1214).
The Great Metropolitan Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile 4 furlongs and 6 yards at Epsom in April during the Epsom Spring meeting. Inaugurated in 1846 it originally attracted top-class racehorses in the 19th and early 20th century, but today its importance has been eclipsed by larger stakes races with more valuable purses.
Scottish Rifle was an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. After winning one minor race as a juvenile he emerged as a top-class middle distance colt in 1972, winning the Predominate Stakes, Gordon Stakes and March Stakes as well as finishing second in the Irish Derby. He reached his peak as a four-year-old in 1973, winning the Earl of Sefton Stakes, Brigadier Gerard Stakes, Westbury Stakes, Eclipse Stakes and Cumberland Lodge Stakes. He also finished second in the Prince of Wales's Stakes and the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup and ran third in the Washington D C International. After his retirement from racing he stood as a breeding stallion in England and Czechoslovakia but had little success as a sire of winners. He died in 1984.