Horseracing in England

Horseracing in England

Chances are great that no matter where you choose your England vacation self catering property, you will be within reasonable distance of a racetrack. You can chose from the spectacular such as the races at Ascot to lesser known races. New Market is considered the home of racing in England. A visit there will allow you to see many of England's top horses being put through their workouts.

Flat Racing is the common term for racing over a level track as opposed to steeple chase races which feature jumps. The flat racing is identified by different bands, conditions races and handicaps. Conditioned races are further divided into + Group 1 - Classics and other races of international import + Group 2 - less important international races + Group 3 - primarily domestic races.

Handicap races are those where horses are given a different weight according to their abililty.

We had the opportunity to go to a local race at Thirsk Racecourse in North Yorkshire. The first race at Thirsk was in 1855. As novices, we found the races at Thirsk particularly enjoyable. The crowd is not so large as at major tracks. So, we were able to enjoy talking with the locals between races and most exciting was visiting the winners circle and speaking with jockeys, owners, and trainers after each race. The betting system is modernized so that the turf accountants communicate via laptops with a central system so that you can bet on a number of races across England. One was kind enough to explain their system before the races started and to provide additional information during races.