Chepstow Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racingcourse 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.
The track is a roughly oval circuit of just under 2 miles (3,200 m). It is a left-handed undulating course, used for both flat and jump racing. The finishing straight is about 5 furlongs (3,300 ft; 1,000 m) in length, with five fences on the chase course to be jumped. There are eleven fences on a complete circuit. There is also a straight mile course.
There were 31 fixtures in the 2022 calendar year including the two-day Unibet Jumps Season Opener with just under £400,000 of prize money on Friday 7 October and Saturday 8 October. This meeting featured the £75,000 Wasdell Group Silver Trophy (Handicap Hurdle) and the £50,000 Grade Two Unibet Persian War Novices' Hurdle.
The £150,000 Coral Welsh Grand National took place on Tuesday 27 December 2022. This meeting also featured the Coral Future Champions Finale Juvenile Hurdle,
Chepstow is one of three racecourses in Wales, the others being at Bangor-on-Dee and at Ffos Las. It is also used as a venue for numerous other indoor and outdoor events, such as concerts, weddings and conferences.[1]
History
Several places in South Wales had race meetings in the late nineteenth century and there had been racing at St Arvans, very close to the present course, between 1892 and 1914.[2] In 1925 a group of ten South Wales gentry and businessmen, that included Courtenay Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar who was also Lord-Lieutenant of Monmouthshire, and Lord Queenborough;[3] formed a company to purchase Piercefield House, and lay out a new racecourse in its estate. Despite struggling to raise enough cash, the racecourse was opened on 6 August 1926. The first race was a two-year-old seller won by Lord Harewood's colt Conca D'Oro, the 7-4 favourite. The two day flat race meeting had good prize money and was termed "The Welsh Goodwood".[2]
The course nearly had to close down immediately after the first meeting and survived only thanks to a large bank loan guaranteed by the directors. Unforeseen extra costs in laying it out meant that it struggled financially for the first ten years of its existence and yet more contributions were needed from the directors. The first jump racing took place in March 1927. Since then the course has been used for flat racing in the summer and jumping in the winter. To begin with, the flat racing was more prestigious, with the Welsh Derby, Oaks and St Leger being run for good prize money. In 1933, at a two-day meeting, the multiple champion jockey Gordon Richards won eleven consecutive races at Chepstow – all six races on the first day and the first five races on the next, before being beaten in a close finish in the final race of the meeting.[2]
During the Second World War, the entire site became designated as RAF Chepstow, an operational outpost of RAF St. Athan, No. 32 Maintenance Unit RAF and No. 19 Maintenance Unit RAF. Equipped with only a grass runway in the centre of the course, additional aircraft accommodation for bombers was created at Oakgrove on the opposite side of the road, accessed by stopping the traffic to allow the aircraft to cross. Types stationed on the course during the war included:[4]
After the war and the demise of both Cardiff and the nearby Caerleon (Newport) course, the Welsh National was transferred to Chepstow in 1949. From then on, National Hunt racing overtook flat racing as the dominant activity as a string of good class horses and top trainers and jockeys contested the race.[2] The three and three-quarter mile race, more recently known as the Coral Welsh National, owes much to the support of the bookmaking firm for establishing it as one of the major events in the National Hunt calendar. It have sponsored it for over forty years, making it the second longest continuous race sponsorship.[1]
Horse racing at Chepstow racecourse
The opening of the Severn Bridge and the completion of the M4 motorway made the course more accessible to English racegoers.[5]
The Clay family, which had bought Piercefield House in 1861, were involved with the management course since its formation.[2] Listed on the AIM stock market as a plc in the late 1990s, Sir Stanley Clarke built up an 80% stake in the company and then reversed his existing Northern Racing racecourse holdings into the shell. Clarke took over as executive chairman of the Racecourse Company in 2000, resigning in 2003 before his 2004 death from cancer. Chepstow is now part of the Arena Racing Company, also called ARC Racing and Leisure Group a private UK company, created in 2012 by the merger of Arena Leisure and Northern Racing. It owns and operates several racecourses.[6]
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External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chepstow Racecourse.
Chepstow Racecourse (Official website)
February 01, 2023
chepstow, racecourse, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, june,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Chepstow Racecourse news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 ChepstowLocationChepstow MonmouthshireCoordinates51 39 23 N 2 41 19 W 51 65639 N 2 68861 W 51 65639 2 68861 Coordinates 51 39 23 N 2 41 19 W 51 65639 N 2 68861 W 51 65639 2 68861Owned byArena Racing CompanyScreened onSky Sports RacingCourse typeFlatNational HuntOfficial website Contents 1 Track and facilities 2 History 2 1 RAF Chepstow 2 2 Postwar 3 Notable races 4 Other events 5 References 6 External linksTrack and facilities Edit Chepstow racecourse The track is a roughly oval circuit of just under 2 miles 3 200 m It is a left handed undulating course used for both flat and jump racing The finishing straight is about 5 furlongs 3 300 ft 1 000 m in length with five fences on the chase course to be jumped There are eleven fences on a complete circuit There is also a straight mile course There were 31 fixtures in the 2022 calendar year including the two day Unibet Jumps Season Opener with just under 400 000 of prize money on Friday 7 October and Saturday 8 October This meeting featured the 75 000 Wasdell Group Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle and the 50 000 Grade Two Unibet Persian War Novices Hurdle The 150 000 Coral Welsh Grand National took place on Tuesday 27 December 2022 This meeting also featured the Coral Future Champions Finale Juvenile Hurdle Chepstow is one of three racecourses in Wales the others being at Bangor on Dee and at Ffos Las It is also used as a venue for numerous other indoor and outdoor events such as concerts weddings and conferences 1 History EditSeveral places in South Wales had race meetings in the late nineteenth century and there had been racing at St Arvans very close to the present course between 1892 and 1914 2 In 1925 a group of ten South Wales gentry and businessmen that included Courtenay Morgan 1st Viscount Tredegar who was also Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire and Lord Queenborough 3 formed a company to purchase Piercefield House and lay out a new racecourse in its estate Despite struggling to raise enough cash the racecourse was opened on 6 August 1926 The first race was a two year old seller won by Lord Harewood s colt Conca D Oro the 7 4 favourite The two day flat race meeting had good prize money and was termed The Welsh Goodwood 2 The course nearly had to close down immediately after the first meeting and survived only thanks to a large bank loan guaranteed by the directors Unforeseen extra costs in laying it out meant that it struggled financially for the first ten years of its existence and yet more contributions were needed from the directors The first jump racing took place in March 1927 Since then the course has been used for flat racing in the summer and jumping in the winter To begin with the flat racing was more prestigious with the Welsh Derby Oaks and St Leger being run for good prize money In 1933 at a two day meeting the multiple champion jockey Gordon Richards won eleven consecutive races at Chepstow all six races on the first day and the first five races on the next before being beaten in a close finish in the final race of the meeting 2 RAF Chepstow Edit The racecourse as seen from the Wyndcliff with the Severn Bridge in the background During the Second World War the entire site became designated as RAF Chepstow an operational outpost of RAF St Athan No 32 Maintenance Unit RAF and No 19 Maintenance Unit RAF Equipped with only a grass runway in the centre of the course additional aircraft accommodation for bombers was created at Oakgrove on the opposite side of the road accessed by stopping the traffic to allow the aircraft to cross Types stationed on the course during the war included 4 Boulton Paul Defiant Hawker Hurricane Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Vickers Wellington Bristol BlenheimPostwar Edit After the war and the demise of both Cardiff and the nearby Caerleon Newport course the Welsh National was transferred to Chepstow in 1949 From then on National Hunt racing overtook flat racing as the dominant activity as a string of good class horses and top trainers and jockeys contested the race 2 The three and three quarter mile race more recently known as the Coral Welsh National owes much to the support of the bookmaking firm for establishing it as one of the major events in the National Hunt calendar It have sponsored it for over forty years making it the second longest continuous race sponsorship 1 Horse racing at Chepstow racecourse The opening of the Severn Bridge and the completion of the M4 motorway made the course more accessible to English racegoers 5 The Clay family which had bought Piercefield House in 1861 were involved with the management course since its formation 2 Listed on the AIM stock market as a plc in the late 1990s Sir Stanley Clarke built up an 80 stake in the company and then reversed his existing Northern Racing racecourse holdings into the shell Clarke took over as executive chairman of the Racecourse Company in 2000 resigning in 2003 before his 2004 death from cancer Chepstow is now part of the Arena Racing Company also called ARC Racing and Leisure Group a private UK company created in 2012 by the merger of Arena Leisure and Northern Racing It owns and operates several racecourses 6 Notable races EditMonth DOW Race Name Type Grade Distance Age SexOctober Friday Persian War Novices Hurdle Hurdle Grade 2 2m 3 f 4yo October Saturday Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle Hurdle Class 2 2m 3 f 4yo October Saturday Dunraven Windows Novices Chase Chase Listed 2m 3 f 4yo December 27th Welsh Grand National Chase Premier Hcap 3m 5f 110y 4yo December 27th Finale Juvenile Hurdle Hurdle Grade 2 2m 110y 3yo onlyDiscontinued racesGolden Daffodil Stakes last run in 2005 Other events EditChepstow racecourse hosts concerts after evening race meetings 1 Madness played at the course in June 2013 and July 2015 Tom Jones performed in June 2014 UB40 appeared in May 2015 Simply Red performed in 2016 Peter Andre performed in 2016 Feeder performed in 2017References Edit a b c Chepstow racecourse website a b c d e Lucas Pat 1976 Fifty Years of Racing at Chepstow SBN 901906 14 X Chepstow Racecourse talkhorseracing co uk Retrieved 26 June 2012 Neil Widdas 2005 Chepstow Racecourse and the Royal Airforce 1941 42 piercefieldpark co uk Archived from the original on 7 November 2011 Retrieved 26 June 2012 Davies John Jenkins Nigel Menna Baines Lynch Peredur I eds 2008 The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales Cardiff University of Wales Press p 376 ISBN 978 0 7083 1953 6 Arena Racing Company arenaracingcompany co uk news story 71 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Missing or empty url help External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chepstow Racecourse Chepstow Racecourse Official website Chepstow Course Guide Course guide on GG COM Course guide on At The Races Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chepstow Racecourse amp oldid 1130084485 RAF Chepstow, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
