Hereford Racecourse
 Hereford Racecourse logo | |
| Location | Hereford, Herefordshire, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°04′23″N 2°43′44″W / 52.073°N 2.729°W |
| Owned by | Herefordshire Council |
| Screened on | At The Races |
| Course type | National Hunt |
| Official website | |
Hereford Racecourse is a horse racing venue located in Hereford, Herefordshire, England, owned by Herefordshire Council. Arena Racing Company held the lease for operating Thoroughbred racing fixtures there until December 2012.[1] National Hunt Racing resumed in October 2016.
The course is almost square in shape with a circuit of about a mile-and-a-half.[2] Opened in 1771[2] the course was greatly modernised in the 1960s,[2] with also in 1966 a photo-finish camera being installed.[2]
Having failed to obtain a new lease from the Herefordshire Council, Arena Racing Company ceased operations there in December 2012.[3] Hereford staged its final Thoroughbred race meeting on 16 December 2012,[4] but continued to be used for Arabian racing.[1] It was used by the North Herefordshire Hunt for a Point to point in May 2014 and was the venue for two point to points in 2015, and also in 2016 when point to points were staged by the North Ledbury in April and the North Herefordshire Hunt at the end of May.
The course reopened for National Hunt racing on 6 October 2016, with 3 more fixtures in 2016 scheduled.[5]
In 2017 the course will stage 11 National Hunt Fixtures spread between January and March and October to December. The North Herefordshire Hunt and Ledbury Point to Points were due to be staged at the course in the spring 2017 but both were abandoned after an exceptionally dry spring led to unsafe hard ground.
2 National Hunt meetings in the autumn of 2017 were transferred to Worcester after a dry late summer and autumn coupled with an inability to sufficiently water the course meant the ground was too hard to ensure safe racing ground.
In 2018 the track was allocated 11 days racing and picked up an extra day in April after several meetings around the country were cancelled due to the exceptionally wet and cold spring. The North Ledbury Point to Point was held in April. This is now the only Point to Point held at the course following the decision of the North Herefordshire Hunt to switch venues after the cancellation of their 2017 meeting.
In August 2018 construction of a reservoir in the centre of the course commenced. This will enable the track to be watered without relying on a limited supply from a shared borehole.
Other Sporting Events
In 1978 the racecourse hosted the final of Motorcycle's European Grasstrack Championship
References
- ^ a b "Arabian raceday draws decent Hereford crowd". Racing Post. 6 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d British Racing and Racecourses (ISBN 978-0950139722) by Marion Rose Halpenny - Page 145
- ^ Telegraph Sport, "Hereford and Folkestone racecourses forced to close down" The Telegraph, 27/07/2012
- ^ "Hereford Racecourse stages its final meeting". BBC News. 16 December 2012.
- ^ "Hereford racecourse: Owners ARC to reopen venue". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
External links
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