Location | Sedgefield, County Durham |
---|---|
Owned by | Arena Racing Company (formerly Northern Racing) |
Screened on | Sky Sports Racing |
Course type | National Hunt |
Official website |
Sedgefield Racecourse is an English left-handed horse racing course, used for jump racing. It is owned by Arena Racing Company and located close to the town of Sedgefield, County Durham.
The course is an undulating, left handed oval of about 1m 2f, with tight bends. The finishing straight is about three furlongs in length, with a steep descent followed by a climb to the winning post after the last fence. It is also used as a venue for numerous other indoor and outdoor events, such as weddings and conferences. [1] [2] The course was almost shut down three times in the 20th century.
Racing has been taking place at Sedgefield since at least 1732, but little is known of these early meetings. In 1804 Ralph Lambton, an ancestor of the Earls of Durham, formed a club based at the Hardwick Arms and Sedgefield became the headquarters of the Ralph Lambton Hunt. Among the original members of the club were Ralph Brandling, then owner of Gosforth Park and Robert Surtees, the father of Robert Smith Surtees, the author of Jorrocks. The Sedgefield course was part of the Sands Hall Estate, home of the Ord family and once known as the Melton of the North. Racing may not have been staged every year and it was not until 1846 that officially recognised meetings were held. [3]
Until World War I the Sedgefield Hunt staged an annual two-day fixture in March. When racing resumed the number of meetings soon increased to three, including a lucrative Bank Holiday fixture. A new Racecourse Company was founded in 1927, and has seen the fixtures gradually increase to the current level.
Facilities only improved slowly, and in the 1960s Clement Freud famously described the course as “all field and not much sedge”. When Frank Scotto was appointed as chairman in 1977 following the death of Harry Lane the course was rumoured to be on the verge of closure. He instigated a series of improvements, replacing primitive tin huts with new bars and eating areas, building the new Sedgefield Pavilion in 1991 and the Theakston Suite in 1995, while increasing the number of corporate hospitality suites. Stable facilities were improved, not only for the horses, but for the stable staff, jockeys, owners and trainers. After Scotto's death in 1996 the course’s future was uncertain, though a state-of-the-art weighing room complex was constructed in 1998, with better facilities for jockeys, officials and medical staff. In 1999, the future of the course was questioned after a horrific incident in a novices' chase. Three horses were killed after three riderless horses ran into the remainder of the field after running up the chase track the wrong way. The racecourse had just narrowly avoided closure for the third time that century. The purchase of the course by Northern Racing was completed in 2001. Since then they have invested around £600,000 on the racecourse, notably on a refurbished parade ring / winners enclosure, upgraded bars and eating areas and improvements to the course's drainage system.
For many years the run from the last fence, an open ditch, to the winning post was 525 yards, even longer than the run-in on the Grand National course. This was because the obstacle nearest the finishing line was a water jump, which cannot be the first or last fence in a race. In 1994 it was replaced by an ordinary plain fence, and it is now jumped on the final circuit, making a run-in of conventional length. It is known as the Johnny Ridley fence as a result of the local bookmaker’s long sponsorship of it. [2]
The Durham National is a steeplechase run at an October meeting over the unusual distance of three and three quarter miles. One of the most popular winners in recent years was Fatehalkhair, a cast-off from one of the major flat race stables, who went on to win twenty races. Thirteen of them were over jumps, and they were all at Sedgefield. [4] The 2021 winner, Hewick, meanwhile, went on to be a Galway Plate, bet365 Gold Cup, American Grand National and King George VI Chase winner. [5]
Local businessman and racehorse owner John Wade sponsored a series of selling hurdle races throughout the season at Sedgefield for a number of years, which in 2010 was upgraded to a series of novices' hurdles culminating in a final on the same night as the Durham National. [1]
Arkle was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by Archive out of Bright Cherry, Arkle was the grandson of the unbeaten flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was bred by Mary Baker of Malahow House, near Naul, County Dublin, Ireland, and was born at Ballymacoll Stud, County Meath. He was owned by Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, who named him after the mountain Arkle in Sutherland, Scotland, that bordered her Sutherland estate. Trained by Tom Dreaper at Greenogue, Kilsallaghan, in County Dublin, he was ridden during his steeplechasing career by Pat Taaffe.
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.
Best Mate was an Irish-bred, English-trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was a popular horse, and his sudden death while racing made front-page news.
Leicester Racecourse is a horse racing course in Oadby, Leicestershire, about three miles south of the city centre.
Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track together with a licensed entertainment and conference venue in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, near 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.
Dawn Run (1978–1986) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and the most successful mare in the history of National Hunt racing. She won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1984 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup over fences at the festival in 1986. Dawn Run was the only racehorse ever to complete the Champion Hurdle-Gold Cup double. She was only the second mare to win the Champion Hurdle and one of only four who have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup. She was the only horse ever to complete the English, Irish and French Champion Hurdle treble. With a Timeform rating of 173, she is the highest-ranked mare ever to appear over jumps.
Chepstow Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing course located just north of the town of Chepstow in Monmouthshire, Wales, near the southern end of the Wye Valley and close to the border with England. It is one of 16 racecourses operated by the Arena Racing Company and is home of the richest race in Wales, the Coral Welsh Grand National.
Davy Russell is an Irish retired National Hunt jockey. He was Irish jump racing Champion Jockey three times, and won the Grand National (twice), the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.
Danoli was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. He was best known for his successes in hurdle races, although he also had success in steeplechases later in his career. Danoli was described as the most popular racehorse in Ireland during the 1990s, and was regarded as "the People's Champion". His successes were achieved despite the fact that his career was frequently disrupted by injury. He was noted for a rivalry with another Irish horse, Dorans Pride.
Mr Mulligan was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a specialist steeplechaser who ran twelve times and won seven races under National Hunt rules. After mixed success in Point-to-point, Mr Mulligan rose to prominence by winning five successive races of increasing importance in the 1995/1996 National Hunt season. He became known for his front-running style and occasionally erratic jumping. In the following year he appeared to have lost his form before recording an upset win over a strong field in the 1997 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was retired after being injured in training in 1998. Eighteen months later he died after being injured in a paddock accident.
Jodami was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist steeplechaser, he ran thirty-nine time and won eighteen races in a career which lasted from March 1990 until February 1997. After winning five races over hurdles, Jodami switched to racing over fences in the autumn of 1991. In early 1993 he won four consecutive races, culminating with a win in Britain's most prestigious steeplechase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He also won three editions of the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown Racecourse. Jodami's racing career was ended by injury in 1997. He died in 2008.
Barton was a British racehorse of Thoroughbred and Anglo-Arabian ancestry who competed in National Hunt racing. In a racing career which lasted from October 1997 until November 2003 he won fourteen of his twenty-six races. He had his greatest success in the 1998/1999 National Hunt season when he dominated the novice hurdle division in Britain, winning all seven of his races including the Classic Novices' Hurdle, Winter Novices' Hurdle, River Don Novices' Hurdle, Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle and Mersey Novices' Hurdle. After missing the next season he returned to win the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Aintree Hurdle, easily defeating Best Mate in the latter race. When switched to steeplechasing he won the Dipper Novices' Chase and the Mildmay Novices' Chase but was never as effective as he had been over hurdles.
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Call Equiname was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. In a racing career frequently interrupted by injury he raced twenty-one times in eight seasons, winning eleven races. Despite an undistinguished pedigree, he showed promise in his early career, winning the Kennel Gate Novices' Hurdle in 1995. He reached his peak in the spring of 1999 when he won the Victor Chandler Chase and the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He was retired from racing in January 2001.
Deep Sensation was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. He ran in six consecutive Cheltenham Festivals and is best known for his win in the 1993 Queen Mother Champion Chase. In his first three seasons he was campaigned in hurdle races, recording his most notable success in the 1990 Tote Gold Trophy. When switched to larger obstacles he was one of the leading novice steeplechasers of 1991/1992, winning the Lightning Novices' Chase and the Nottinghamshire Novices' Chase. He reached his peak in the following season, when he took the H & T Walker Gold Cup, the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Melling Chase. He never won another major race but recorded two minor wins and was placed in several important chases over the next two years. He was retired from racing after a narrow defeat in the 1995 Melling Chase after winning thirteen of his forty-nine races and being placed on twenty-one occasions. He died in November 2003 at the age of eighteen.
Remittance Man was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. He was noted for his consistency, excellent jumping and nervous temperament. Between December 1988 and April 1990 he competed in hurdle races, and showed promise by winning two of his twelve races including the Grade 2 Bristol Novices' Hurdle and never finishing worse than third. When switched to compete in steeplechases he showed immediate improvement and won thirteen of his first fourteen races over fences. In his first season of steeplechasing his wins included the Noel Novices' Chase, Wayward Lad Novices' Chase, Galloway Braes Novices' Chase and Arkle Challenge Trophy. He had his greatest success in the 1991/1992 season when he won the Arlington Premier Chase, Queen Mother Champion Chase and Melling Chase. In the following autumn he won the Desert Orchid Chase and the Peterborough Chase but then sustained a serious tendon injury. He won his comeback race in February 1994 but was beaten in his three remaining races.
Coneygree is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. In a career which ran from November 2010 to February 2019 he ran in eighteen races, winning nine times. In March 2015, he became the first novice chaser to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup for more than forty years. His subsequent career was hampered by injury and he did not run again in the Cheltenham Gold Cup after winning it.
Minella Times is a retired Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In 2021, he won the Grand National under Rachael Blackmore, becoming the first horse ridden by a female jockey to win the race.
Hewick is an Irish-bred and trained Thoroughbred racehorse who races under National Hunt rules. He is a specialist long-distance steeplechaser known for his victories in the 2022 American Grand National and 2023 King George VI Chase.