Towcester Racecourse
| File:Towcester racecourse logo.jpg
Towcester Racecourse Logo
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| Location | Watling Street, Towcester, Northamptonshire |
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| Owned by | The Towcester Racecourse Company Ltd. |
| Date opened | 1928 |
| Screened on | At The Races |
| Course type | National Hunt |
| Official website | |
Towcester Racecourse is a horse racing course at Towcester (pronounced "Toe-ster") in Northamptonshire, England. Recently rebuilt, it hosts National Hunt Rules race meetings (over jumps) in the Winter months. It is situated on the Easton Neston estate.
The first meeting took place in 1928. The Towcester Racecourse Company was formed under the direction of Lord Hesketh, and it was on his then estate of Easton Neston, that the course was sited, and the first grandstand built.
Towcester is highly popular among the racing fraternity, because of the sharp bends in the course, and the final gallop to the finishing post is uphill, which tests the horses and results in some unexpected finishes.
In 2004 the Easton Neston estate, including the race course was put up for sale. Hesketh later decided to retain ownership of the course and sold only a portion of the estate to a Russian-born businessman.
Entry was free from 2002 until 2006, during which time the course saw attendance grow significantly. In mid-2006, it was announced that from 26 December 2006 Towcester will be charging for entry to their two most popular annual meetings; Boxing Day and Easter Sunday. Selected other meetings are free.
In 2008, Lord Hesketh decided to sell the course which is being offered as a going concern.
On 7 November 2013, jockey Tony McCoy got his 4,000th career win at Towcester, riding Mountain Tunes to win the Weatherbys Novices' Hurdle.[1]
A new greyhound racing track has been built inside the racecourse, which opened in December 2014.[2]
The greyhound track is used over a variety of distances; 260 metres, 480 metres and two '6 bend' distances, 655 metres and 686 metres. In early 2015, Towcester was named as a BAGS track for 2015.[3]
Greyhound meetings are held on Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday afternoons. during January 2015, there were meetings on a Thursday evening while the track awaited planning permission to race on Sundays. The track was also boosted by Champion Trainer Mark Wallis moving his base to Towcester.
References
External links
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