TAKE ON THE TRACKS
Welcome to the Roy Waterhouse Steeplechasing guide to British National Hunt racecourses.

* Updated 30th August 2012*

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Aintree
For purposes of this piece I wish Aintree was still known as Liverpool, it’s a bit awkward starting an alphabetical list of British jump racecourses with the number two National Hunt venue in Britain, but there we are; additionally, what could I say about it that you don’t already know? I should probably write a line or two about the expansion of the track’s fixture portfolio, but I’ll put that at the end. To describe the courses; there is the huge, galloping Grand National circuit, with the most famous steeplechase obstacles in the world (unless you’re the biggest fan of the Velka Pardubicka ever), and the sharp, left-handed hurdles and Mildmay circuits, the latter one of the few remaining tracks that has genuinely tricky ‘park’ fences. On the National course, apart from the National itself, it’s often an advantage to hold a prominent position from an early stage – the Becher Chase over 3m2f, which now starts with the fence after Valentines, is a steadily-run race most years, while speed is what the other circuits are about with no running style particularly favoured. That said, good to firm ground is unlikely to be experienced at the National meeting for the foreseeable future, the Clerk of the Course Andrew Tulloch having made a great job of ensuring good ground, even in 2007 when the meeting was run on the three hottest days of the year as it turned out. Fixtures, then; gone are the days when they raced just the three days a year, and with the two-day meeting in October, one in December - in 2012 the Becher Chase meeting is to be run on the same day as the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown, as it was for the first time in 2011 - and evening fixtures added in May and June, Aintree has never had such a busy programme, no doubt thanks to some guidance from the track’s owners Jockey Club Racecourses, who know how to make a racecourse make a profit. What are referred to as 'run-offs' on the Grand National course, which allow fences to be omitted in the event of an obstruction caused by an incident on the first circuit, were used in the 2011 and 2012 Grand Nationals, resulting in a barrowful of unwelcome negative publicity for the race and for Aintree. We can only hope that they won't be needed in 2013.

Website: www.aintree.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Ascot
More buildings, more enclosures, more boxes, more security, more bars and more escalators than a London Tube station. Ladies and Gentlemen: welcome to Ascot in the 21st Century. The Royal racecourse returned to the jumping fold after the rebuild in 2006, which at one stage didn’t look on the cards at the beginning of the Millennium. The NH programme went the way of the other ‘London’ grade ones and introduced a lot of ordinary ‘makeweight’ races, some at the expense of better-quality events that were attracting few runners. Indeed, before Sir Peter O’Sullevan’s Never won a three-runner race for the Kennel Gate Novices’ Hurdle in December 2002, the former Chief Executive Douglas Erskine-Crum went on the BBC’s programme and made noises in his interview that Ascot might give up jumping altogether. Instead, it brought it back with a bang. Prize money was up and new races created, and with the exception of Cheltenham itself, Ascot now puts on the strongest pre-Cheltenham Festival NH programme. The new circuit is a bit sharper than the old one, but is the same, basically galloping, triangular shape, and the water jump has been replaced by a plain fence on the chase course. The new home straight seems to ride good whatever the going on the rest of the track, as seems to be the case on the Flat, and coming from the back in a big field isn’t easy. Talking of the Flat, don't forget the 2m5f Queen Alexandra Stakes. You'll have heard it referred to as 'the last race of Royal Ascot' many times. I call it 'the original jumpers' bumper'.

Website: www.ascot.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Ayr
Scotland’s number one track, but with the exception of the Scottish National fixture, ordinary racing in the main. Not that promising horses don’t turn up throughout the main part of the season, as many a promising Northern-trained novice hurdler and chaser comes here at the beginning of their career. And so they should, as it’s a wide-open, straightforward, left-handed circuit, with well-spaced obstacles on both the hurdles and chase tracks. Those that race prominently do well. The track doesn’t seem to drain that well when the wet stuff descends on it, and tiring mudfests can be the order of the day, even in two-mile races. Look at the Scottish National meeting though, and most years it’s like a totally different track. The ground is seldom even halfway-testing for the Scottish National – an exception coming when confirmed mudder Moorcroft Boy won the race in 1996. And in 2008, there was Iris De Balme, leading at the last then going on to do an impression of Kingsgate Native.

Website: www.ayr-racecourse.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Bangor
A right and proper jumping track, located at the Bangor that’s near Wrexham in North Wales. Point your car in that direction, and you’ll more than likely find the course first time, if you’ve never been before. Most NH fans know that, when you get there, there’s no point looking for the grandstand, because there isn’t one. The best vantage point from which to watch the races is the mound that bisects the betting ring and the turn out of the home straight, giving you a good view of the track but an almost head-on view of the line, which isn’t the best in the event of a photo-finish. As that area is uncovered, maybe Bangor is a prime candidate to move all of its fixtures to the Summer. As it is at the moment, it operates all year round, with June the only month with no meetings. The course is a sharp left-hander with few significant undulations, fair for all horses. The point-to-point track on the inside of the main course was used for hurdle races - as such referred to as 'the Inner Course' - for the first time in February 2010, but it only seems to be used for one fixture per season. Being sharper than the usual hurdles track, and with the ground on it likely to be faster than the main course, you'd expect it to suit those racing prominently, and one mistake might be enough to put a horse out of contention. The quality of Bangor’s programme has increased in recent seasons, with many fixtures including a Class 2 or 3 handicap hurdle or chase with reasonable prize money, one example the Dee Hurdle over 2m1f in August. All in all Bangor, trainer Donald McCain's favourite course, is on the up, particularly with many of McCain's best horses dropping in here on their way to bigger targets.


Website: www.bangorondeeraces.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Carlisle
The Monet’s Gardens, the One Mans and the Sparky Gayles go to two courses to start their chasing careers; Ayr is one, but arguably the greater proportion of promising Northern-trained would-be Gold Cup winners go to Carlisle, which is part of the Jockey Club Racecourses group. The racecourse has recognised this, and beginners, intermediate and graduation chases feature prominently in its National Hunt programme. But why has a hitherto ordinary racecourse become the venue in the North to send your good novice chaser to? For the same reason why those trained in the South go to Exeter. It’s nothing to do with the right-handed circuit being a stiff, hilly track – one of the stiffest in the country terrain-wise – but because all the fences are positioned on uphill or level parts of the course, and there’s nothing to catch out the poor jumper thanks to the way they are made, with a soft broom belly and no middle eyeline, only the orange kicking board on the ground. Accordingly, falls and unseats are rare. Carlisle have put a purpose-built hurdles track on the inside of the chase course, and that got its first use in the 2011/12 season, but not for all fixtures - their Flat course still had hurdles on it at some of their jump cards. The new hurdles circuit is nothing like as testing - indeed it is considerably sharper, with one less obstacle per circuit on it, giving an advantage to those racing prominently. I get the impression that this new hurdle course is not as popular...

Website: www.carlisle-races.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Cartmel
Get your sat-nav working, make sure the petrol tank’s full and set off three hours early, because there’s a bit of pre-racing shopping, eating and drinking to be done in the shops and pubs of Cartmel Village before the first race up in the Lake District on the late-May and August Bank Holidays – and don’t forget to have a stroll round the Priory. They absolutely pack ‘em in, with five-figure crowds the norm except possibly for their mid-July meeting. Forget the mainly-mediocre racing you get here, you should go to Cartmel at least once in your life. ‘Mainly mediocre’ doesn’t apply to the course’s best race, a 3m6f veterans’ handicap chase – a Class 3 contest in terms of status – for nine-year-olds and upwards. The powers-that-be have Cartmel to thank for the success of veterans’ handicap chases in recent seasons. But go there, and I promise you, no written words can prepare you for what it’s like once you arrive. In terms of where to watch the racing, wherever you go don’t expect to be able to see the whole track, despite the left-handed circuit only measuring a mile round. At Cartmel, what passes for a grandstand is actually in the middle of the circuit. The reason for this is that the run-in is on separate ground to the main circuit, the runners taking the first on the left then going diagonally across to finish their races. For a further dose of the unusual, check out the chase track. None of the six fences on the circuit are jumped in the last half-mile of the steeplechases. Four of them are taken in the straight going towards the fairground bend, then after the last of those, there’s a run-in that’s longer than the run to the line in the Grand National - and, uniquely, with a full turn. If you come here as a serious player, then good luck, you’ll need it. Whether you’re playing seriously or not, you must visit the Cartmel Village Shop and buy lots of its world-famous, home-made, Sticky Toffee Pudding, the greatest dessert in the world. And get some Kendal Mintcake while you’re at it (several different varieties). If you can’t make it to Cartmel in the near future, then don’t worry – you can find the Village Shop’s delicacy at your nearest Waitrose.

Website: www.cartmel-racecourse.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

Village Shop’s website: www.stickytoffeepudding.co.uk

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Catterick
‘The Bridge’ is further North than you think it is. You think you’re nearly there when you reach Wetherby? Not a bit of it. And to rub it in, during that last 30 miles or so that you’ve still got to drive, you’ll see every other racecourse in Yorkshire signposted before you see any signs for Catterick Village. When you do get there (parking on the opposite side of the road to the racecourse), it couldn’t be further removed from Ascot. You can walk from one end of the enclosures to the other in the space of, say, 200 yards; and small is the operative word when it comes to the grandstand, as befits a gaff track. I was there on a wet New Year’s Day 2008 – how it deals with a Summer crowd for its Flat meetings, I don’t know. It isn’t the most scenic either, but that’s hardly the racecourse’s fault. It’s ironic all the same that Sandown, a train ride from London, is a scenic natural ampitheatre for the built-up area it’s located in, whereas Catterick has a pretty, quiet-looking village nearby, yet the view from the racecourse is dominated not by trees, but by a colliery and accompanying slag heaps, a stone’s throw – if you’ll pardon the pun – from the back straight. The track itself is a sharp, slightly-undulating, left-hander where the ground is seldom testing. When it does rain significantly the track usually takes it well, as it’s based on gravel. Horses tend to get home here on soft ground, which they don’t at poor draining tracks). Front-runners often dominate, but in recent seasons the staying contests have been won by someone coming from behind (like General Hardi in the 2011 renewal of the 3m6f North Yorkshire Grand National, the track's best jump race).

Website: www.catterickbridge.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Cheltenham
No introduction necessary here, surely, to the number one National Hunt venue in Britain, but Cheltenham’s success – not just with, as it is now, the four-day Cheltenham Festival, but with the rest of its programme from October to April – means that a day’s racing here can be an uncomfortable experience, and if you come by car, expect to spend at least an hour trying to leave after racing. The probable reason why Cheltenham is doing so well is that, of all the grade one tracks, it now puts on the strongest pre-Festival jump racing programme in Britain, but, as with Ascot, there was a time when it was heading for the opposite. The rot set in when Channel 4 took over (terrestrial) television coverage from the BBC. Several two-runner races, moderate contests with ordinary horses and, when Challenger Du Luc won the Murphy’s (now the Paddy Power) Gold Cup in 1996, poor-quality turf which saw a few horses slip up – notably Dublin Flyer in the Murphy’s – arguably lowered Cheltenham’s reputation. To add insult to injury, the then-new cross-country course was only drawing a few runners for what was the only race on it all year, but we were impressed with how good McGregor The Third looked, and worried not about the poor spectacle presented. Serious work had to be done – and they did it. Every race from October to April now carries at least five-figure prize money. Better-quality races are put on throughout all Cheltenham’s pre-Festival cards, rather than one or two on each raceday. Meetings are well-publicised and competitive fields are the norm. There’s a place for valuable novice handicaps too, all with a higher ratings ceiling than you’d normally get in them, and such races – like the novices’ handicap hurdle at the Open meeting – work extremely well. So does – and I think we can all admit this after universal reservations in the beginning – the four-day National Hunt Festival. There’s good stuff also at the Showcase meeting (Friday and Saturday in mid-October), the April meeting and the hunter chase night in May.

There are, of course, three tracks at Cheltenham. The New Course, a mile-and-a-half circuit used in December, January, the last two days of the Festival, April and May, is a galloping, stiff track, with the fences evenly spaced but not so the hurdles - four coming within six furlongs on the back straight then two in the last mile, and with the uphill home straight long enough to accommodate three hurdles at a push but only having one, it suits a horse played Paul Carberry-late. The Old Course, used in October, November and the first two days of the Festival, is sharper, indeed the sharpness of it – not just relative to the New - is much underestimated, for it is a real test of speed on fast ground. There was a change of configuration on the Old Course's chase circuit introduced in 2010/11. The controversial second last-fence placed before the home turn, at which there had been a number of unlucky falls, was removed and a new portable fence installed just after the bend in the home straight, meaning a two-fence home straight on the Old Course for the first time and the fence count increasing by one for races using the 2m4f chute. The new second last-fence took its share of falls, but I think I'm right in saying that all of those occurred in the closing stages, and the fence has had no complaints to my knowledge. No change to the hurdles on the Old circuit, the second last-obstacle here remaining, although to me it's just as bad as the old second last-fence for claiming unfortunate falls, such as Wishfull Thinking's in the 2010 Coral Cup.

The cross-country course now has three higher-profile, competitive chases run over its twisting, turning 3m7f course, these at the Open Meeting, in December and at the Festival. The cross-country chases attract a pool of regulars who also contest races over the Punchestown equivalent, providing an angle for punters, and after a stuttering start, up until 2011/12 they were very much a success story. Unfortunately, the debacle at the end of the cross-country in December 2011 showed it in a negative light. Track specialist Garde Champetre, who could have probably run the track by himself, picked up the pieces as the seven who were a long way in front on the home turn headed to the Old Course-straight instead of the New, where the one remaining stuffed hurdle had been sited (the other two races finish on the Old and some of the jockeys must have been thrown by that). After the resulting pile-up only three completed the course at the first attempt, one of the others turning back. Garde Champetre and Scotsirish, the one who turned back, sadly ran their last in a controversial renewal of the cross-country handicap at the Festival in March, run on officially firm ground and won by Balthazar King (first British-trained winner of the race) - plenty argue that it shouldn't have been run on account of the prevailing going. Cheltenham have a bit of work to do to get those who dislike the track's cross-country chases to like them in 2012/13.

A fourth track, the Park Course which linked up the 2m4f chute with part of the New Course and was used in September and October in the early 90s, hasn’t been used since 1995.

Website: www.cheltenham.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Chepstow
Yarmouth, one of Northern Racing’s portfolio of racecourses, came under fire a while ago for pathetic prize money at the majority of its meetings. As ever with racing’s media, jump racing is the poor relation, therefore there’s been no publicity whatsoever about the gradual degradation of the National Hunt programme at another of Northern’s tracks, Chepstow. Having, I guess, experienced the same problems as the grade ones – Chepstow has never been a grade one – in attracting good horses for an above-average number of better races, Chepstow went the other way and reduced first the quality of its fixtures, then the number of meetings. It now boasts the traditional October meeting – which has been comprehensively usurped by Market Rasen’s late-September fixture as the season-starter for good horses – the Silver Trophy meeting, the Welsh National meeting and a load of dross; it once had so much more. Rogues gallery-staying chases have become staple fare. Don’t get me wrong, there are still reasonably strong novice hurdles here, particularly over 2m4f and 3m, but Wales’s number one track isn't as good as it was– indeed I can just see it losing that moniker to the new track Ffos Las. The track is a galloping, undulating, nearly 2m-round left-hander, where deep mudfests are commonplace. When it’s heavy, sometimes horses meet the uphill section on the back straight and just grind to a halt. The aforementioned novice hurdles, as I suggested, do contain a few promising ones, but over 2m and 2m4f they tend to be very steadily run to the home straight and, with half a mile going downhill to run, those held up often never get there, and I would think twice before having a bet in a 2m or 2m4f novice hurdle here. Chepstow had a better time of it in 2010/11, with the Welsh National rescheduled to January after the original December date was snowed off (a fixture swap was done with Sedgefield, which hasn't had the best of deals since it was acquired by Northern), but their overall programme still wasn't as good as it was in the early- to mid-90's; however the trend was halfway-bucked in 2011/12 with a few open handicaps dotted about their fixtures. I feel they need to do more, but they ended last season going the right way.

Website: www.chepstow-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Doncaster
Always overshadowed by its Flat programme, watch out for the emergence of Doncaster as a superpower among jump tracks in future seasons, in part thanks to the backing of Arena Leisure, who took over management of the racecourse from Doncaster Borough Council in late 2004 (which in the fullness of time saw it channel-hop from Racing UK to At The Races, the first track to do so – ATR have the rest of the Arena venues). Like Ascot had done, Doncaster knocked down a few old buildings, put up new ones, came back with a bang – in their case starting with the 2007 St Leger meeting – and resumed its jump programme, which runs from December (when the middle Saturday-card now includes the Summit Junior Hurdle, which was run at Lingfield) to early-March. Although National Hunt cards account for a fraction of Doncaster’s total fixture portfolio the racecourse had always maintained their commitment to jumping before the temporary closure, and they part-confirmed that with the installation a complete new set of fences on the steeplechase track. They proved kinder to horses than their predecessors, with only six falls/unseats from 139 chase runners in 2007/08. The Great Yorkshire – sorry, Sky Bet – Chase is still around, and so is the Grimthorpe Chase, which is used by many as a trial for either the Grand National or the Scottish equivalent. However an even stronger jump card a week after the Sky Bet meeting, which was run for the first time in 2008, with the centrepiece a £100,000 2m handicap chase, was removed from the 2011 fixture list (which clashed with the longer established-meeting at its neighbour Wetherby). There are 11 fences and seven hurdles on the nearly 2m-round, left-handed pear-shape. A prominent position is important in large-field chases, and over seven out to five out – which are on the crown of the long home turn – those travelling off the rail could end up forfeiting ground, the wider you go the more you lose over those three obstacles. Things are fairer over hurdles. Doncaster before it closed would have been in my top half-dozen tracks, and still is after my first visit since the rebuild in March 2011.

Website: www.doncaster-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Exeter
If the One Mans etc. go to Carlisle, then the Best Mates, Racing Demons and other good chasing debutants trained south of the divide – is it the Trent, is it Newport Pagnell services or is it the M25? – come to this place. It was once described on the front cover of the racecard as ‘Exeter Racecourse/Devon & Exeter Steeplechases/Over The Course At Haldon’. Sat-nav wasn’t around in them days, even after the ‘Devon &’-part of the track’s name was removed officially in 1990. Do you go to Devon first, then try Exeter, or can you find Haldon on the AA roadmap? And where’s this Kennford that’s in its postal address? It’s actually a whole lot easier than that to find, as it’s just off the A38, which you’ll be on if you remember to filter right off the M5. The reason why Exeter is as popular a place to introduce a novice fencer to the rigours of steeplechasing as its northern counterpart is the same – fences that don’t snare a horse’s legs in the event of a mistake (indeed I think Exeter’s fences are among the easiest in Britain), and every one of them jumped on either level or uphill ground whilst going round this undulating, 2m-round right-hander. All the hurdles are positioned on uphill or level ground too. The Haldon Gold Cup in early-November, where the best two-mile chasers often start their campaigns, is the best race at the track (look out for front-runners in it) and – pleasingly for those who like tradition – has yet to move from its Tuesday slot. Plenty of graduation and Class 2/3 novice chases throughout the season back it up. Exeter was bought by Jockey Club Racecourses in late-2006 (when it was still Racecourse Holdings Trust) and, formerly televised by At The Races, joined the other JCR tracks on Racing UK when it switched from May 2012.

Website: www.exeter-racecourse.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Fakenham
Dynamic, fast-paced, ride-a-finish-a-circuit-too-early rave-on, brought to you by a friendly team of people down there in Norfolk. I remember my first visit to the course, a Sunday meeting in November 2001. It had rained all morning, was still tipping down, and I went to the racecourse office to ask what the going was. The reply came: “Good to soft. Ha ha ha!”. Derek Thompson was commentating, and he introduced the recall man to the crowd before the start of the 3m chase – probably the only race start in Britain where the person required to wave a flag in the event of a false start does his job within talking distance of the spectators. Mr Recall Man, probably extremely embarrassed, duly waved his flag for Tommo. It follows, then – speaking of embarrassment – that Messrs O’Regan and Thomas, when they ‘finished’ their steeplechases on Harringay and Oumeyade respectively, probably found some sections of the crowd only too pleased to tell them what they thought of them. If it’s that easy to say hello to the guy in the white coat with the flag, it’s as simple to say what you like to the jockeys. What those two should have done at that point was to jump the fence in front of the enclosures – an obstacle that’s so close to them, it’s virtually on the bottom steppings. Cordoned off with barriers on the last circuit, that is one of six chase fences on the square-shaped course, accompanied by four hurdles, one on each side. You’d think that such a sharp track – it’s a fraction less than a mile round, with the last hurdle actually jumped three times in 2m races and four over 2m7f110y – would suit those who go out to make all, but it’s not always so. Some front-runners, particularly if taken on by others, take off like there’s no tomorrow, tear into the bends, use themselves up and get collared just as easily as they might round a more conventional track. Wherever you sit in a race you need to travel well, and if for any reason you’re not – say if you miss the break, or a mistake sets you back at any stage – then you won’t be winning. Novice chases are the best-quality contests, the racecourse’s efforts in putting up five-figure prize money for some of these having attracted dual Charlie Hall winner Ollie Magern and Grade 1 Aintree/Punchestown winner Twist Magic in recent seasons. Course specialists are often the ones to be with: a few years ago El Cordobes, going even further back Prince Carlton, and much more recently Cool Roxy and Beau Torero, are four who spring to mind. Many of my bets at Fakenham have found ways of getting beaten that aren’t represented by a letter in the form book, but successful wagers since mean that I now see it in a better light. My most recent visit to Fakenham was in January 2011 and I strongly recommend that you go if you haven't been - there's a good atmosphere and a great selection of stalls offering locally-produced food.

Website: www.fakenhamracecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Ffos Las
'It's like Newbury.' A.P.McCoy's description of Ffos Las, already the subject of rave reviews, with nothing whatsoever negative written about it, before it opened in a blaze of glory on 18th June 2009, struck me as being too sexy to be true. However it remained the case after the event that nobody had a bad word to say about it, and all the vibes are that it is here to stay, and that it is an asset not just to Wales, but to British racing; however I have a gripe. More about that at the end of the piece. The dual-purpose Ffos Las circuit certainly looks more like a grade one course than a gaff track. Flat and galloping (like Newbury, but closer to Worcester), it is so wide, both on the straights and the sweeping bends, that it could probably accommodate 30 runners or more in a race - of course that won't happen, but it seems physically possible, looking at the TV pictures. With this configuration, there should be no hard-luck stories - horses shouldn't get in each other's way and the only ones that will lose position in a race should be those that are either not good enough or ungenuine. Although one or two jumps winners here so far have been held up, many have been in a prominent position throughout - indeed a front-runner is often worth having on your side here. Ffos Las's relative closeness to the ferry port at Fishguard - Stena Line are actually marketing racing trips from Rosslare on their website! - means that there's often a strong Irish challenge. There are nine fences on the steeplechase circuit - five down the back, four in the home straight - and six hurdles, three in each straight; traditional hurdles are used. I visited the track in October 2009 and, to be honest, I felt uncomfortable. It drew massive crowds to start with and that day was no exception, and the enclosures and bars were too small to deal with them. There also weren't enough Tote kiosks. I returned in November 2010 and things had seemed to have settled down - no additions to the enclosures/Tote points, but a smaller crowd - but on my latest visit, in October 2011, it was more like the first time I went. What I don't understand is why the grandstand at this most modern of British racecourses is so small compared to certain other venues, such as Navan in Ireland where I went for the first time in February 2012 and, despite clear signs of showing its age, the longer and wider grandstand to be found there could accommodate two or three maximum Ffos Las-crowds. With examples of construction and racecourse building going back 100 years to consider before work started, how come they got the end product - from a racegoing perspective - wrong?

Website: www.ffoslasracecourse.com. TV: At The Races

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Folkestone
‘You need a horse with five legs to go round there.’ My memory’s not what it was, but I’m sure that John Reid was the Flat jockey who came up with that quote about the course at Westenhanger in Kent, the county’s only racecourse. Even less complimentary was Richard Johnson in his book Out Of The Shadows, and if you’ve read that you’ll know what I’m on about. Personally I can’t bring myself to put it in this piece. Arena Leisure own Folkestone, and they want to make something good of the track, particularly with their National Hunt programme. The Daily Mail Handicap Chase, a 0-125 contest, had £25,000 prize money in 2007, and a new race the Kent National, over 3m7f, proved an instant hit, with the winner Iris De Balme going on to take the more prestigious Scottish version. The track is a sharp, undulating right-hander measuring around a mile-and-a-quarter, and early in the season hurdles races are run on the Flat course, gradually moving further in towards the outer of the chase circuit as the season progresses. Be aware of the configuration of the hurdles track, if you weren’t already. There are two on the side going away from the stands then two in the back straight, all those coming in around five furlongs or so. Following that, there’s anything between half a mile and six furlongs of running on the Flat, incorporating the home turn, before they get to the last, the only hurdle in the home straight. A poor jumper who made mistakes three out and/or two out still has a chance. Chases are more of a level playing field, with two on the side going away, three in the back straight and the remaining two fences taken in line for home. Back to the name; Folkestone racecourse isn’t actually in Folkestone, but in the aforementioned Westenhanger, whose train station is next to the track. The Eurostar passes through it at the moment, but I’m sure French racegoers can get a taxi from Ashford. On the evidence of my most recent visit, which was by rail, you might need a cab anyway. The trains went badly wrong and they laid on buses from Ashford. The driver on my bus hadn't been briefed as to what route to take and was persuaded not to go straight to Dover by other people heading for the races. He stopped to let racegoers out on the hard shoulder of the M20, guided by someone with better local knowledge than me. This was on November 29th 2010, when racing was abandoned due to snow after the horses had gone to post for the first then came back, the white stuff balling up in their hooves. You couldn't make it up.

Something else which isn't made up, sadly, is the announcement that Folkestone racecourse is to close this year. Its last meeting is scheduled for December 18th. For more information read my PLOG about the upcoming closures here and at Hereford.

Website: www.folkestone-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Fontwell
A little place that’s a bit popular is this. Perhaps the reason is that Fontwell is two tracks in one, a figure-of-eight chase circuit – one of a kind, unless Windsor has another jump revival – and a sharp, left-handed hurdles course. The minimum distance over hurdles and fences here is two and a quarter miles – some bumpers are run over 1m6f – and the winning post is therefore passed three or four times in a race. The perfect ingredient for someone to ‘do a Fakenham’, as it might now be referred to, but thankfully nobody has since Adrian Maguire gave hurdler Access Sun the works after just a mile and three quarters in 1994. The stiffest part of the track is the run-in, which is slightly uphill on both tracks and not quite straight for the chasers, who have to make a slight turn close home where the chase and hurdle tracks meet a few yards away from the line. A horse that can act right-handed might be one to be with over fences here, as the last bend is clockwise. Northern Racing own this southern track – go figure – and gave the go-ahead for Fontwell to have a new grandstand built in the Premier Enclosure, at a reported cost of a cool £7.5 million. The 888sport Premier Grandstand opened in August 2010.

Website: www.fontwellpark.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Haydock
The configuration of the re-modelled jumps circuit at Haydock changed again in 2009/10 and they now seem to have settled on it. Using portable steeplechase fences, as normal nowadays, a ninth fence was added to the chase circuit, sited in the back straight, making it five down the back and four in the straight. What this achieved was bringing the number of fences jumped in a three-mile chase up to the normal minimum of 18 (it's supposed to be six per mile). A more notable alteration was to the track's fixed brush hurdle events. All hurdle races were run on the hurdles track in 2009/10, whereas the previous season saw most brush hurdle races run on the same track as chases, with the same number of obstacles as in a chase whatever the distance. Now, the number of obstacles jumped in a brush hurdle is reduced to be the same as that for traditional hurdle races. That still didn't prevent the valuable fixed brush handicap hurdle over 3m1f from being won by a good novice chaser in 2009, although Diamond Harry had yet to run in a chase at that point, and a potential chasing type - or one with experience over fences already, and has a lower handicap mark over hurdles - is still worth looking for in the race when it comes round again in November 2012, even allowing for the 2011 renewal being won by a horse who looks likely to turn out to be a straight-ahead hurdler in Dynaste. Even with less hurdles to jump that race remains, for all intents and purposes, a valuable steeplechase where the fences are small. Some of the going reports at Haydock in the latest season were best taken with a pinch of salt. Six minutes, or up to 6:10, is about what you'd expect for three miles on good to soft ground, but Dynaste clocked 5:38 - with that official going description - and the 11-going-on-12 Kauto Star ran 5:54 in the Betfair Chase. Then in May, on officially soft going, front-runner American Spin - who's not as good as Dynaste and, holding on grimly, didn't exactly spreadeagle the opposition like Dynaste did - also took 5:38 to win the 3m handicap hurdle. That said it was definitely heavy when Unowatimeen, not capable of cantering at the end, won the Walrus Hunters' Chase on the National Trial-undercard, but that doesn't excuse the gross inaccuracies of November and May.

Website: www.haydock-park.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Hereford
One of the Three Counties tracks, here’s a traditional National Hunt course situated in the middle of un-traditional territory. Surrounded by the local school and the lorry parks and buildings of an industrial estate, one finds the Hereford racecourse, which is one of the more unremarkable British NH tracks. I don’t mean that in an unkind way at all – it just seems like a track that has little in the way of unique features. Northern Racing own this Midlands track, and there’s been a bit of give and take here in recent seasons. Sadly one of the fixtures that it's lost was the traditional Grand National day meeting, which had made it onto Channel 4 a couple of times. Northern seem to think that Chepstow is the place to be if you can’t get to Aintree. The track is a square-shaped, 1m3f-round right-hander with tight bends and minor undulations. Despite the track’s sharpness, some horses can come from behind. The chase fences, though big, jump better than they look on TV and take few fallers.

Sadly, jump racing fans need to make the most of what little time Hereford has left. It was announced in July this year that Hereford is to close at the end of 2012 - its last fixture will be on Sunday December 16th. You can read more about the upcoming closures of this track and Folkestone in this PLOG.

Website: www.hereford-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Hexham
Moving to the Heart Of All England now – as suggested by the race title of one of Hexham’s longest-established races - for this North East-located, scenic natural ampitheatre. The feature here is the chase course, for the wings of the fences are natural hedges, which have been in place for around a hundred years. For the horses, getting round here can be a bit tough, especially if heavy going is the order of the day, for it’s a galloping, hilly left-hander. The place where a lot of races are decided is the climb to the home turn - the more tired the horse, the tougher the climb. There are some Class 3 novice chases, and one of 2007/08’s leading novices Hobbs Hill started his chase campaign here. The race programme at Hexham, which doesn't have the support of one of the big racecourse-owning groups, sadly went a bit downhill last season, after previous recent campaigns staged - or were due to stage - the £25,000-added Northumberland National, which wasn't in the programme book last season. Lastly, and for those who don’t know, the aforementioned ‘Heart Of All England’ is a maiden hunter chase run each May, and it’s a race that most of the Northern point-to-point fraternity would love to win.

Website: www.hexham-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Huntingdon
One of the best tracks in the country in terms of accessibility from all over Britain, just off the A1 south of Peterborough, here’s one of those tracks that place the emphasis on speed rather than stamina when the ground’s good or faster. Huntingdon’s course bends right-handed, has easy turns and is flat throughout – see two-mile chasers fly the open ditch in front of the grandstand and whizz round here, where it’s a must to be up with the pace. Actually, it’s desirable to be up there regardless of trip, whether it’s fences or hurdles. The chase course's water jump was changed a few seasons ago to a 'false water' - I don't know exactly how this is made, but I assume it's some sort of mat, simulating a water-spread, which, if a horse drops its back legs, instead of landing 'in' it it would land 'on' it, reducing the risk of injury and resulting in the horse losing less ground. Commentators' descriptions of the fence have included 'spread fence', 'false water' and 'waterless jump'. The Huntingdon race that everyone knows is the Peterborough Chase, which has a roll of honour including Very Promising, Pegwell Bay, Sabin Du Loir, Edredon Bleu, Edredon Bleu, Edredon Bleu and Edredon Bleu. Some nag or other called Best Mate came off the subs bench to take Edredon Bleu’s place in 2002 and he won it too. A drain on top-jockey resources was the main reason behind the race going from a Saturday slot to a midweek date in December from 2008, which has been made a permanent fixture (if they weren’t chasing the backsides of Ruby Walsh and Kauto Star round Haydock, they went to Ascot). Besides the Peterborough, there are a couple of last-stop-before-Cheltenham races over hurdles in February; the Sidney Banks over 2m4f has been a trial for the Ballymore Properties, and the Chatteris Fen for juveniles attracts Triumph Hurdle (or Fred Winter) candidates. By the way, the assertions of Racing UK presenters that the Peterborough used to be run on a Thursday during November should be corrected, for it formerly took place on a Tuesday.

Website: www.huntingdon-racecourse.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Kelso
Stand by for a new-look Kelso racecourse for the 2012/13 season. The Kelso executive decided to make changes to the configuration to promote optimum use of their ground - they found that 65% of their runners compete in hurdle races and bumpers and 35% in chases, yet the hurdle course was narrower up the home straight owing to the chase course omitting the last two fences. This goes back to when the fence opposite the grandstand was a water jump - it's been a plain fence for some years. That fence has been removed, and chase runners will now be finishing their races on the chase track, rather than tacking across to join the hurdles course. The two-furlong run-in is gone, and the fence after the old last obstacle will now be the last. Furthermore, what used to be the last fence - now the second last - becomes an open ditch, and will be the only such fence on the circuit, with the fences that used to be ditches - the one after the stands and the old second last, before the home turn - changed to plain ones. There's a whole new set of steeplechase fences too. The previous permanent fences, which had no guard rail - so they all looked like ditches - and apparently needed three times as much birch to fill them up, have been replaced by portable obstacles built by Watt Fences. Over hurdles, the changes to the chase track in the home straight mean that the last hurdle can be sited closer to the winning post - other than that, the sharper hurdles track is as before, taking the first on the left after passing the stands. Some quality contests feature throughout the season at Kelso, and the best card here – currently going without terrestrial TV coverage, which is nothing short of diabolical – is the late February one (early March some years), headed up by the Grade 2 Premier Kelso Novices’ Hurdle, and also containing a Class 2 conditions' chase over 2m6f, which was the last stop before Aintree for the last two seasons for the 2011 Grand National winner Ballabriggs. The Scottish Borders National used to be on that card too, but has since been moved to a December date, and another noteworthy race is the Morebattle Hurdle in February, won in 2011 by Peddlers Cross before he took the runner-up spot in the Champion Hurdle, and in 2012 by top notch-novice Simonsig. Thanks to these Kelso has a well-deserved higher profile than ever before. It made the move to Racing UK from May 2012: all five Scottish tracks are now shown on the channel. With the new configuration of the course and the move to RUK (easily the most committed of the two TV channels when it comes to National Hunt coverage), Kelso is likely to be a big mover-and-shaker among British racecourses in 2012/13.

Website: www.kelso-races.co.uk (then click on 'News' to access the press release about the changes).
TV: Racing UK

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Kempton
Let’s go back to October 2006. ‘Bit of history now as they cross over the all-weather track for the first time...’ Richard Hoiles’s words as he commentated on the opening novices’ hurdle at Kempton’s first jumps meeting after their Polytrack was installed, were actually describing something that had been done before, just not at Kempton. Some may have forgotten about the few NH cards that took place at Wolverhampton after their all-weather circuit opened for business, which took in a few yards of Fibresand when turning into the back straight. The ‘new’ track at Kempton includes about half a furlong of Polytrack after passing the stands. It’s the same, triangular shape as the old one and is minus one fence on the chase track - the water jump removed without replacement – but it is a more galloping track than before. And here’s another difference. As seems to be the case at Southwell, another track with a turf circuit next to an all-weather, Kempton when there is give in the ground appears to be one point softer than the official going, i.e if they say ‘good to soft’ it’s actually ‘soft’, and if they say ‘heavy’ then it’s ‘very heavy’ (not an official going description, but it arguably should be). If you happened to video Simon’s win in what is now the Racing Plus Chase in 2007, then watch it, because that illustrates what I’m trying to say. The jump programme, running side by side with Winter Flat dross, is longer than it was before the re-configure (it now extends into April) and, of course, includes the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day – more traditional than Turkey at that time of year – backed up by the Feltham Novices’ Chase and Christmas Hurdle, and the aforementioned Racing Plus Chase plus a hatful of other Graded races on the last Saturday in February. Public trannie should be convenient, for Kempton has its own train station with direct services from London Waterloo. Unfortunately the quality of the jumps programme at Kempton away from its feature days appears to be on the decline, chiefly illustrated by the traditional October fixture having its handicap chases reduced in grade to 0-115 in 2009. During the cold snaps of 2010/11 and 2011/12, the Polytrack came to the rescue - sort of -with cards of 'jumpers' bumpers' during the spell of abandonments, with race conditions such as 'for horses who are eligible for National Hunt novice hurdles' or 'for horses who have run in at least one chase'. Next time we get a blanket of snow, there could be more of them.

Website: www.kempton.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Leicester
Remittance Man, Royal Athlete, Raymylette, Indefence, Arctic Kinsman, Erhaab. Many good horses come to Leicester at the beginning of their careers, even the odd Derby winner, but that’s enough about horses who do hardly anything and, for some strange reason, earn more prize money than jumpers do. I’ve a bit of time for Leicester, and so do many professionals, and if there is fair ground – bearing in mind that the chase track isn’t watered – then expect to see some good ones turn up in the beginners’ and novice chases. Indeed a race errantly billed as ‘the best chase ever staged at Leicester’ made its debut in early January 2008, a Class 2 conditions chase won by Jack The Giant. I can’t have it that that was a better race than, for example, a novice chase here in February 1992 which Ryde Again won from Riverside Boy, a subsequent Welsh National winner; it hasn't been run again since. The course is a rectangular-shaped, stiff right-hander. The first two of the six fences in the back straight are taken downhill, the next on level ground then the remainder uphill. In a change to the configuration in 2009/10, the open ditch on the crown of the home turn was removed and relocated to the home straight, where it is the second of what is now a four-fence home straight, placing more emphasis on jumping in the closing stages of chases at Leicester than previously, when a horse could get away with mistakes on the back straight or three out, even two out, and turn up late to get the win. The resited ditch has proved tricky for one or two, and jockey Robert Thornton was off games for a bit after Cracboumwiz fell at it in a novices' chase in January 2010. Hurdle races are over the Flat course, which is well watered during the Summer and usually softer than the chase. The run to the line over hurdles is tougher as more of it is uphill, and the leader turning in usually won’t be first at the post. Leicester is most accessible by train, but if you’re using East Midlands Trains (formerly Midland Mainline), the only way to avoid paying a ludicrous amount of money for the privilege is to book well in advance and hope your chosen meeting doesn’t get abandoned.

Website: www.leicester-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Lingfield
The future of National Hunt racing at Lingfield seems secure, only in that messages to the effect that the track intends to go Flat-only – commonplace in the late 90s – haven’t appeared for some time. Things were indeed bleak back in 1999/2000 when the number of jump meetings here was reduced to one and a half – the December meeting and a mixed card in March, with the Winter Derby, on what was then the Equitrack, the feature. Things are better now, although one must admit that the number of Lingfield jump cards in recent years has been boosted by meetings transferred from elsewhere. Arena Leisure, the track’s owners, stepped in when Ascot closed for the rebuild and put on their October and February meetings at Lingfield, and the Surrey track has also stepped in for Doncaster and, in late 2007, flooded Worcester. Of Lingfield’s own jump cards, the highlight – when the weather allows – very much remains the mid-December meeting, featuring the Grade 2 December Novices’ Chase; the Summit Junior Hurdle was on it but has been moved to Doncaster. No points for guessing which track is aggressively competing against those races, with just-as-valuable, non-Graded, similar contests, drawing better-quality fields. Lingfield is a triangular-shaped, 1m4f-round left-handed track, with a stiff uphill climb starting before five out in chases and four out over hurdles, followed by an equally-steep descent before the home turn. No pitfalls jumping-wise for the chasers. The ground is often soft or heavy. All its National Hunt Flat races are run on the all-weather Polytrack. Many folk can’t see the point of that, but they themselves are missing the point, for bumpers exist to teach horses to race – after all it’s not as if they’re being asked to run on hot coals. Trains from London Victoria.

Website: www.lingfield-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Ludlow
Energetic, go-the-wrong-side-of-the-third-last-hurdle, proper jumping-stuff in the heart of Shropshire. Enter Ludlow, where the selling hurdle is king (and the hunter chase queen, while the claiming hurdle is jack). To be fair, they haven’t had a repetition of a grizzly incident in December 2003, where a lady rider came to grief at the first in one of those sellers, the hurdle was omitted next time and they went several different directions (rumours of one runner ending up at Hereford and another at Bangor were unfounded). There are two flat, right-handed tracks here. The hurdles course has an unconventional layout, with one hurdle on the side going away from the stands, the runners going straight on past the chase bend to go to the back straight, only two there, then a sweeping turn followed by three quick hurdles in the home straight, which can decide a race if a few are in contention turning in. The chase track also has a slightly unusual configuration, with five fences in the home straight – the water jump next to the winning post not taken on the last circuit – and four down the back, chase runners taking the first turn on the right. The fences here seem to be the softest in Britain – many chasers only get half the height of these fences, brush them and don’t bat an eyelid. Even the ‘Tricky Trevor’ fence, the first in the straight, presents no horrors nowadays. The going is usually quick, and the ground on the home turn is usually well churned up come February (look out for Timmy Murphy going wide on a lot of his rides here). There are a lot of paths on the course here and these are covered with what is called 'coconut matting'. After Pret A Thou slipped up on the matting on the home turn when clear in a handicap chase on December 17th 2009, its use became the subject of extended discussion during Racing UK's coverage of the meeting; however to be fair, it usually isn't a problem, and the Pret A Thou incident seems a one-off.

Website: http://www.bobdavies.f2s.com/. TV: Racing UK

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Market Rasen
Summer jumping in Britain, introduced for the first time in 1995, has been a success, and a large chunk of that is down to Market Rasen’s efforts in putting on the best National Hunt cards at that time of year. The popular Lincolnshire venue was known for being where the jump season officially finished - you might remember 1994, when the Dunwoody-Maguire scrap for the Jockeys’ Championship went right down to that final evening card on the first Saturday in June. There’s not a lot of tradition left in National Hunt, but the 'Raspberry' was still where the season ended in 2011/12 - the campaign finishing with the 5:00 race, a bumper, on 28th April 2012, then the new season started the following day. The track is a sharp, slightly-undulating right-hander. Try and get on a front-runner, or one who usually races prominently, in large-field chases, because over fences here it’s well-nigh impossible to come from behind in a big field. Such races include the Summer Plate, now in the jumps Pattern as a Listed race, in July, and there’s another similar valuable handicap chase - the Prelude - in September. That late-Summer, or early-Autumn, card is now where the 'good stuff' starts - even though the Chepstow October card still exists it isn't as good. Over hurdles one can come from the rear, as Katies Tuitor proved in the 2008 renewal of the Summer Hurdle, the other big July contest. Stamina only comes into play here when there’s give in the ground.

Website: www.marketrasenraces.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Musselburgh
They started National Hunt racing at Edinburgh, as this track used to be called, in 1987 (the name change came in January 1996), to plug that little gap between November and March and give a major Scottish city horse racing all year round. Previously Scotland effectively had only two jump tracks during the core period of the season, with Perth’s fixtures restricted to warmer months, and Scottish trainers would have liked more venues closer to home to race their horses at. The overall quality of horses at small Scottish yards, though (also such stables in the far north of England), is moderate, and this mediocre-ness found its way into Musselburgh’s jump programme. That said, efforts have been made to boost the quality of National Hunt sport here and the best NH meeting is a Sunday card - in 2012 rescheduled to the following Saturday thanks to the weather - in February which features the Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial and the Scottish County Hurdle. Hmm, is there a theme there? The course is a sharp-to-galloping right-hander, though perhaps less sharp than the media would have you believe. After all, the back and home straights have four fences and three hurdles in them, so any sharpness is restricted to the turns, especially the home turn, where many horses on the inner end up coming off the rail. The ground is normally good or better, so there’s another reason why horses run here – some just aren't up for slogging round Ayr and Kelso in the mud, and that’s where the Musselburghs and the Cattericks come into their own. In August 2007 a plan to build an all-weather track here, at a reported cost of £11 million and which had been approved by East Lothian Council, was thrown out.

Website: www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Newbury
So there I am, writing this web page, and I reach Newbury, and I’m really struggling for an opening line. But that’s the thing – the location is so plain, un-scenic and lacking any sort of character that if it wasn’t for the racecourse, someone would have built a high-rise tower block on the site, which today would be inhabited by young Brits of the 21st century misbehaving and dysfunctional families. Okay, let’s get away from that and talk about British racing’s rough diamond, because it’s a grade one track with lots of history and, with Newbury Racecourse station right outside, one of the most accessible if you travel by rail. All you need is the trains to be working properly (which usually they don’t – certainly allow extra time if you’re coming from London Paddington). The best thing about Newbury is that it’s a big wide-open, galloping track, turning to the left, with lots of room, easy bends and a water jump opposite the stands. What I really wish Newbury would do is restore the Cross Flight on the hurdles course. How come they didn’t take away the Cross Fence at the same time, if it was a safety issue? The layout over hurdles became three on the back and four in the home straight in late-1999, then mix-and-match between three/four and four/three, before settling down to a four/three configuration for the last few seasons. Over fences it’s five down the back, the Cross Fence down the side, and four in the straight, the water missed out on the last lap. You’ll be familiar with the major jump fixtures. The Hennessy meeting, featuring the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup, is in late-November, the Challow Hurdle for novices is over the Christmas period, the totesport Trophy is in February and a valuable 2m4f handicap chase inaugurated in 2004, which has had several sponsors already, is in early March. Not forgetting the mares’ finals later that month; the chase having moved here from Uttoxeter to accompany the hurdle.

Website: www.newbury-racecourse.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Newcastle
Back in ITV Seven days, Newcastle was awesome. Novice chases here were great Saturday-afternoon television. You need to bear in mind that I was a small child back then, and derived tremendous entertainment from races where six started and only one got round. The most famous fallfest here, though, happened well after Channel 4 had taken over Saturday afternoon coverage. Cast your mind back to November 1990, and the Steel Plate & Sections Young Chasers Qualifier. Five started, and all of them came a cropper. The Tim Reed-ridden Tropenna, left alone when Mr Boston exited five from home, was the last to go to ground, claimed by the ditch in the home straight three out (now four out). Reed remounted the 16/1 chance, negotiated the last two and finished alone. Of course, things have changed over the last ten years. Northern Racing removed the water jump after they took over the track (quite possibly saving it from closure), increased the number of fences in the straight from three to four, and the hurdles taken after turning in from two to three. Over time some of those truly huge fences were replaced by portable ones, and Newcastle is now a fraction of the jumping test that it used to be. It’s still a testing, galloping left-handed track though, and however easy they find the obstacles, they still have to see out the race thoroughly. Sometimes those staying on at the end can turn a four-length deficit into a two-length victory. There’s been the odd change to the NH programme, and one of the most notable of the races at Newcastle named after breeds of duck, the Dipper Novices’ Chase run in January, has moved to Cheltenham. The Fighting Fifth Hurdle in November, now a Grade 1, is the top hurdle race here by far, and the main support contest on that card is the Rehearsal Chase, formerly run at Chepstow. The Eider Chase, the 4m1f-mudfest in February, also remains an integral part of Newcastle's jump programme.

Website: www.newcastle-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Newton Abbot
Market Rasen took the Summer Jumping baton at the beginning and ran with it. Certain other tracks moved their fixture lists in part or in full to the (theoretically) drier months later, and that’s now where Newton Abbot comes in, having moved its entire programme to start in late March and finish in early September. It’s now one of several tracks that describe themselves as ‘the leading Summer jumping racecourse in the UK’, or similar. Getting here is basically the same route as that to Exeter, but the two tracks couldn’t be more different, for the Abbot is a sharp, left-handed track with only seven fences and four hurdles to a circuit. The hurdles course is the thing here, for the last hurdle is normally positioned less than a hundred yards from the line - way too close - and a good jump, a mistake or a jockey steadying the leader into it can decide a race if there are a few in contention. The two best races here are the Lord Mildmay Memorial Handicap Chase and the Summer Festival Handicap Hurdle, run on the Saturday and Sunday respectively at the two-day meeting here in August. When Newton Abbot has gone ahead in Summer 2012 - which looks likely to be the wettest ever - very long grass, almost coming up to the horse's knees, has been in evidence.

Website: www.newtonabbotracing.com. TV: At The Races

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Perth
We’re at Britain’s most northerly racecourse now, and another venue that has made a success of Summer jumping. They are absolutely packin ‘em in at this picturesque track, set in the grounds of Scone Palace Park (‘Will you to Scone?’ If Macbeth liked his racing, he wouldn’t have gone to Fife). Perth has two major Scottish towns to draw racegoers from – Aberdeen and Montrose – but never races during the core period of the season, as the ground here is usually saturated in Winter. Now they can race every month from April to September, and stage a quality race during June, the Perth Gold Cup, a 3m handicap chase. Perth is an easy right-handed track with plenty of room, suitable for all horses and not favouring one run style over another. The popularity of the track extends to the trainers who send horses here - with two-day fixtures the rule, southern yards and many small Irish stables send runners to Perth, and the racing is competitive. The best meeting here is the Perth Festival towards the end of April, three days peppered with a few above-average contests. With plenty of prize money to run for, Messrs Pipe and Nicholls took their scrap for the 2004/05 Trainers’ Championship here. However the trainers who often take the honours are Nigel Twiston-Davies and, over the last couple of seasons in particular, Gordon Elliott, whose runners always go to Perth on business (those from the Elliott yard are often overbet and too short). The track were hoping to use Easyfix hurdles at the 2009 Perth Festival, now part of the furniture in Ireland at some tracks, but that didn't happen and traditional hurdles are still used. Perth channel-hopped to Racing UK from May 2012.

Website: http://www.perth-races.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Plumpton
Plumpton's desire to race no matter what the weather throws at them, saw things at the track sink to a new low on February 9th 2009. There had been abandonments, and A.P.McCoy had therefore been denied a chance to get his 3,000th winner. Plumpton announced in the morning that racing was to go ahead after an inspection, then it rained, rained and rained some more. Okay, they wanted Plumpton to be the place where A.P. rode his 3,000th, I get that - and he did, on Restless D'Artaix in a beginners' chase - but for heaven's sake, the horses were galloping through large lakes! You call that safe for horses? They weren't raceable at any stage that day. It’s unfortunate that, when I think of Plumpton, that’s the first thing that springs to mind, because it really shouldn’t be. The course don’t have the backing of one of the big racecourse-owning groups and have done everything they can to put historical perceptions of the track to rest, not least introduce a £25,000 bonus for a novice chaser who wins a race here then win at the Cheltenham Festival (pocketed by Voy Por Ustedes’s connections in 2005/06). The tight, rectangular, left-handed course has several undulations and, arguably, the least-popular fence in Britain for jump jockeys on novice chasers. When they turn to go down the back straight they go downhill and, on that descent, there’s a fence. You don’t need me to tell you what often happens there. I’m surprised the course haven’t considered moving it to where the water jump used to be, on the crown of the home bend. For hurdlers, the uphill/downhill parts and tricky turns mean that, in a big field, it’s a struggle for horses trapped in mid-pack. Plumpton is one of the best for going by train, with the railway station right next to that turn for home.

Website: www.plumptonracecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Sandown
No introduction necessary. You’ll have heard the endless schmaltz emanating from various members of the Channel 4 Racing team past and present, extolling the virtues of Sandown, for near-enough the last two decades. Graham Goode turned into a different person when calling the finishes here. Okay, some of it is justified; it’s a lovely natural ampitheatre, there’s exciting racing and top-class horses run here. Something Channel 4 never tell you is that if you go by car, it’s a hellish nightmare trying to get out. Plenty of staff are available to help you park when you arrive late morning, but where are they after the last? Everyone jams up the exit as they all go for the same place, the main road is already busy because of traffic coming from/going to Esher High Street and the Scilly Isles roundabout, after which the Grade 1 novice chase here is named, is horrible. In the first place the car park here is about the muddiest at any of Britain’s racecourses, so all in all you’re better off coming here by train. Get off at Esher station and it’s something like between 200 and 300 yards’ walk. You’ll be familiar with the right-handed, galloping, slightly-undulating course with an uphill finish, which is made out to be stiffer than it actually is – it’s not the Cheltenham hill, which itself isn’t a patch on the Towcester hill. You know the Railway Fences, the Pond Fence and the Rhododendron Walk (the latter isn't part of the course, but there’s a name for most things here). Hurdle races use the Flat course and the configuration is uneven, with four hurdles on the back straight and two in the home run. The race programme, then: the Tingle Creek in early December is the number two 2m chase in the calendar; the Tolworth Hurdle for novices in January sometimes gives you a Cheltenham Festival winner; the Sandown Handicap Hurdle and the aforementioned Scilly Isles are in February; the Imperial Cup in March is usually won by a horse going on to the Fred Winter or County Hurdles a few days afterwards (the lure of a big money-bonus for winning the Imperial Cup and at the Cheltenham Festival), and of course there’s the Finale meeting - the mixed Flat/jumps card - on the last day in April featuring the used-to-be-the-Whitbread Gold Cup. Not forgetting two of the few remaining traditions of National Hunt racing, the Royal Artillery in February and the Grand Military in March, where the human participants are past and present members of the Armed Forces (see racecards for the full conditions).

Website: www.sandown.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Sedgefield
This spot in County Durham was made famous for being Tony Blair’s constituency, but I strongly suspect that people with no interest in horse racing don’t know that Sedgefield has a racecourse. Past descriptions of it stated that it had a 525-yard run-in – this goes back to the days when it was unique in having the open ditch as the last fence, at the top of the home straight, then a run-in omitting the water jump. Obviously this has changed since then, the water replaced by a plain fence which is now the last and the run-in now a more normal 200-odd yards. The rectangular, left-handed, undulating circuit is on the sharp side, rising sharply after the last fence/hurdle on the back straight before a steep descent coming off the home turn. It’s desirable for a horse to be leading at this point if it’s going for the win – it’s harder to gain ground on the leader when going downhill. Stamina is important in the longer races, for there’s no three-mile start at Sedgefield and most staying contests are over at least 3m3f. Adverse publicity about Sedgefield in 2008 will not be dwelled upon here, but because of it, report had it that they were looking into the feasibility of staging races over a trip nearer to 3m. Go and Google it if you must, but in my opinion National Hunt’s small tracks sometimes get too much of a bum deal from the press. Talking of getting a bum deal, that is largely what Sedgefield has had since joining the Northern Racing fold. After Northern took over from the Scotto family, they were accused of buying Sedgefield so that it could transfer fixtures to Newcastle. The track lost a very rare opportunity to stage a Saturday fixture when the rescheduled Welsh National meeting at Chepstow was put on January 8th 2011, the Sedgefield card that was to have been run that day relocated to Sunday 9th. It proved academic as the meeting was abandoned, but a poor show all the same.

Website: www.sedgefield-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Southwell
In professional punter Sidney Harris’s book, the title of which I can’t remember, he stated that he had no strategy at all about the jump track at Southwell. Well, if Sidney’s reading this, I can help him out. I think that the going here at this Nottinghamshire track is usually one point softer than it actually is, i.e. if they say ‘good’, it’s actually ‘good to soft’, and if they say ‘heavy’, it’s ‘very heavy’ (which I think should be introduced as an official going description), that observation probably related in some way to the construction of the all-weather circuit, for the same thing happens at Kempton now. And in chases, get a good jumper on your side, for the fences here, though portable, are pretty tough for a gaff. But the course itself is pretty-well normal - it’s an American-shaped, completely flat left-hander, situated inside the Fibresand. The turns are easy and both straights give a horse and jockey time to get organised at the obstacles. Some horses can make all, others have no problem coming from behind – no run style has an advantage over another in well-run races. At Southwell, they’ve been running chases and hurdles on the same strip of ground for well in excess of a decade. Chases first, whip the portable fences off, hurdles on. The now-familiar fixed brush hurdles are used here: originally made for the all-weather hurdling experiment, Southwell used them on grass for the first time in March 1993 and has done so ever since. The ‘mini-fences’ are kinder to horses, who brush through the plastic ‘birch’ rather than whack a solid wood frame. And, of course, you can’t knock ‘em flat. Southwell took over some Doncaster jump meetings when that track was being rebuilt, and gained three new NH fixtures of its own in 2009. There’s no scenery at Southwell – Harris used the word ‘featureless’ – but I like it. During the most recent cold snaps, Southwell joined Kempton in staging jumpers' bumpers-cards.

Website: www.southwell-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Stratford
The course next to the River Avon is another to have re-invented itself as a Summer jumps course, but the comfort of those that visit Stratford does not appear to be one of the racecourse’s prime concerns. They rebuilt their grandstand relatively recently, back in 1997, but they got it wrong in my opinion. The new structure is too small and unable to cope with a crowd. People insist on taking their pints onto it and, all in all, I think I’d prefer a walk in the park than a day at Stratford when it’s sunny and warm. That said, I can't honestly say I was uncomfortable when I last visited in May 2010 (an evening card when the weather was changeable). The track is a tight left-hander with no significant undulations. In a change to the configuration on the hurdles course, one of the two obstacles taken before the winning post was moved to a site between the line and the turn away from the stands for its 2012 season. Prior to that the staff changed around the chase course, which for over a decade after removing the water jump in front of the stands, had two fences in the home straight, which worked fine until there were suddenly a lot of fallers over these two fences in 2006. Maybe the second last had been moved a few yards one way or the other before the falls, but I’m very much guessing there. Their first solution was to remove that second last but have a new fence closer to the line – so the last became the second last, and the new final fence was sited about a hundred yards before the winning post. This still didn’t solve the problem as the number of falls at these two remained above average, so for 2008 Stratford restored the water jump in front of the stands (now a 'false water', like at Huntingdon). This seems to have done the trick and there are now fewer fallers in the home straight, as well as a great spectacle for racegoers – well, those who can actually see it from the grandstand. Ruby Walsh would disagree with this, though, after the Gallik Dawn wrong-course incident at the late May 2008-meeting. Barriers placed in front of it did not prevent Ruby and his mount from jumping it when going for the line. It’s a bit like the Fakenham thing – a jockey should be properly acquainted with the layout of the course before going out to ride. I say well done Stratford for bringing it back – all we need now is the old Courage Brewery Chase back from ITV Seven days, with the shire horses at the start. However, I must now take Stratford to task. Because the point-to-point fraternity were having their annual bash at the track on the Friday of their two-day Champion Hunter Chase meeting at the end of May 2011, they moved the Horse & Hound Cup to the Friday - another contribution to the trashing of tradition in jumping: this was done again in 2012. There are some racegoers out there that still like hunter chases (especially good ones, the Horse & Hound largely regarded as third in the pecking order to the Cheltenham and Aintree Foxhunters'), and not everyone can make it on Friday night. Stratford need to put things back the way they were.

Website: www.stratfordracecourse.net. TV: At The Races

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Taunton
We’re off west here, deep in Zummerset cider-drinking country. They say that, first and foremost, Taunton is a hurdle-race track, and they have special Jockey Club dispensation which lets them stage just two chases per meeting instead of the minimum three in the height of Winter. Novice hurdles here often carry prize money that’s above the minimum levels. Okay, that’s great, but there’s a problem here that the racecourse executive probably don’t think they have. I don’t know if any work has ever been done on the turn out of the back straight on the hurdles course, but that is the worst bend on a British racetrack. It comes not long after the last hurdle down the back, and normally takes the form of about five yards of rail, shaped into a curve. The place to be at that point is in front, no two ways. The layout of that turn is such that those in the chasing group can do nothing but get in each other’s way, and most are beaten right there. The fact that most novice hurdles at the track go up through the gears at this point after being steadily-run affairs only makes matters worse. To be fair, that bend was dolled out to its furthest extremity for a couple of meetings early in 2009 and it appeared less problematical, watching on TV anyway. Aside from that, a jumping error at any point on the last circuit of hurdle races often means that a horse holding a strong winning chance before the mistake, instantly goes to having no chance at all. Don’t be surprised if a fancied horse in a Taunton hurdle that’s well beaten, returns to form next time at a track with a fairer layout. Overall Taunton is a sharp, right-handed, rectangular course, better for chasers than hurdlers I think (as you’ll have gathered), as long as you hold a prominent position from the outset on either circuit. It’s a popular place, and even on a crisp and cold Thursday in February, you have to wedge yourself in to the grandstand. The reintroduction of a 4m2f110y-handicap chase to Taunton's programme in 2011 was very much a forward step, but unfortunately it only drew four runners.

Website: www.tauntonracecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Towcester
And now mountaineering for racehorses, located in Northamptonshire within easy reach of the M1 and M40 and not a million miles away from Silverstone, but don’t expect to see anything near Jenson Button’s speed here, particularly when the going is similar to what those driving to the 2012 British Grand Prix encountered in the car parks. This is Towcester, the world’s toughest racecourse. The galloping, right-handed track includes the stiffest uphill finish anywhere. Publications always use phraseology to the effect of ‘many a race is turned on its head’, and that’s how it is. The last half-mile of the circuit is all uphill, and they start climbing well before the last fence/hurdle prior to the home turn. The closer you get to the line, the harder the climb. Sometimes the four-length leader three out ends up pulled up before the last. In terms of the quality of racing, Towcester hasn’t made much effort to improve it. There was a flirtation with a valuable novice chase for a couple of years before the course closed for rebuilding in 2001, but since its 2003 reopening, some may have looked at racecards for Towcester and probably thought ‘I’m not paying money to see that...’. Well you don’t have to, because admission is free for most meetings here. There is the odd Class 3 handicap, but such races are very much the exception and not the rule. On 17th March 2011 Towcester had the distinction of staging the first race to be declared void since remounting was banned, all four runners in the novices' chase falling or unseating.

Website: www.towcester-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Uttoxeter
This is where it all began for the late Sir Stanley Clarke’s Northern Racing group. The Staffordshire countryside course at Uttoxeter was down on its uppers, then Sir Stanley bought it, financed a whole host of improvements to buildings and stuff, moved the Midlands National to a March slot and got Channel 4 to televise it for the first time in 1991. Forward wind to the present and, to be honest, with Sir Stanley sadly no longer around, Uttoxeter is resting on its laurels. To be fair, it’s often the case that there’s only so much you can do – and there’s nothing wrong with the buildings and facilities – but what about the track? It operates all year round and the running surface for the horses can sometimes be described as ‘variable’. There is an omitted fence and/or hurdle somewhere at many meetings, and unsightly bits of sticking-out running rail are used to doll off the areas not in use – it needs looking at. The course itself is a sharp left-hander with a dog-leg right-turn on the back straight. The ground here in the height of Winter - and recent Summers - can get so muddy that it stretches the definition of ‘raceable’. The Summer National, a valuable 3m4f-chase in July, was replaced by a Listed 3m2f handicap chase in 2012.

Website: www.uttoxeter-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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Warwick
Racing in Shakespeare’s county here folks. ‘Historic Warwick’ they sometimes call it, and what a beautiful olde English town centre it is, dominated by Warwick Castle. The racecourse ain’t bad either. The NH programme runs from November to March and includes some above-average racing, with its top race being the Grade 3 Classic Chase over 3m5f, the modern-day equivalent of what used to be the ‘Brooke Bond Oxo National’. The Grade 2 Leamington Novices’ Hurdle tops the undercard. The February meeting – when the weather allows it to go ahead (the Winters of our discontent...) – is also a good quality card, featuring the Grade 2 Kingmaker Novices’ Chase. The track itself is a galloping-in-the-main, left-handed, mainly flat circuit. Some of the turns are a little tight, but really the only horses Warwick wouldn’t suit would be any who can’t act left-handed. The best-known feature at Warwick is the chase track, which includes five rapid-fire fences close together going down the side towards the home turn, placing the emphasis on good, straight jumping. Warwick station is about 15 minutes’ walk away.

Website: www.warwickracecourse.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Wetherby
The ground issues that have beset Wetherby’s re-aligned course in 2007/08 were still not behind them in 2008/09, but things were better in 2009/10, and the new ground seems to have settled down, although it will probably remain the case that the going in the home straight will remain faster than that going down the back. It’s regarded as a ‘new’ circuit, but not all of it is new. There’s about 200 yards left of the previous track in the home straight – watch closely and you can see the join in the grass, like squares of turf on your lawn – and most of the back straight is still the same as previously, including the remaining big, black Wetherby fences on the circuit, then the course bears left at a point before the previous home turn started, giving a sweeping bend into the new straight, which – unlike the old home run – is completely straight, avoiding the elbow about a furlong from home. What’s different about Wetherby post re-configuration is that it’s now much easier for horses to come from behind than it used to be. The track's number one race, the Charlie Hall Chase run in late October or early November, is backed up by such as the John Smith’s Hurdle, the Wensleydale for juveniles and a Listed mares’ hurdle, which made its debut in 2007. The Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase is the pick of the track’s two-day Christmas meeting, if only the weather would allow it to go ahead. Prize money is an issue in racing that never goes away, and it became a more serious problem than elsewhere at Wetherby in 2010/11. Novice hurdlers typically raced for a first prize of less than £2,000. Complaints were widespread, and some trainers boycotted meetings here. Wetherby's argument was that if they didn't have the Charlie Hall Chase (worth £90,000), they could put more in the pot. Whatever the reasons, the argument will never stack up with owners and trainers, who have never tolerated any excuses on the subject. There was marginal improvement in prize money in the 2011/12 campaign.

Website: www.wetherbyracing.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Wincanton
Here is one of those ‘almost-a-grade-one’ tracks, down the A303 in Somerset. Only just, though – a mile the other way and Wincanton would be in Wiltshire. Once you pass Stonehenge, you’re nearly there. Situated in the middle of nowhere, with the aroma of manure from the surrounding farms (if you’re driving with your window down) but without single-track roads, we have the number one track in the West Country, also Paul Nicholls’s local track. Formerly shown once a year every Boxing Day on BBC between Kempton races (when Auntie had the near-monopoly), it went about a decade without TV coverage (so all Desert Orchid’s appearances at the course were missed) until Channel 4 started regular visits when beaming the 1995 Jim Ford Chase and Kingwell Hurdle down your tellywire. Since then several Thursday cards have moved to Saturdays. Wonder why? Wincanton is a tight, rectangular right-hander. The familiar stiff fences that were to be found at the track were all replaced by portables last season, and as a result Wincanton isn't the tough test of jumping ability that it used to be. The giant Bacofoil sheet – the water jump down the side going away from the stands – still remained in place last season. Watch Wincanton in November when the sun’s out and you’ll see what I mean. It’s desirable to be up with the pace throughout and, over fences, the first to reach the third last fence normally wins. Hurdle races were run for the first time over 2m4f in 2007/08. Wincanton’s biggest days are in November, when the Badger Ales Chase, Elite Hurdle and Rising Stars Novices’ Chase are run, and February, when the Kingwell Hurdle takes place. It lost the Country Gentlemen's Association Chase, the latter day-moniker for the Jim Ford, from 2011, the replacement a 3m limited handicap chase at Ascot.

Website: www.wincantonracecourse.co.uk. TV: Racing UK

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Worcester
Britain’s wacky climate is making a habit of trying to put the kybosh on Worcester’s season of Summer jumping. This lovely track was the first to move its entire season to the warmest months of the year, but in 2007 they lost half their meetings to the floods, and the weather continued to give the staff here more headaches in Summer 2008 than it ever did in Winters past. Historically Worcester have always had problems with the River Severn, which is next to the home straight, bursting its banks and engulfing part or all of the track every now and again, but it’s safe to assume that the rains and floods of 2007 and 2008 were like nothing else ever seen. Worcester is a flat, galloping left-hander with a nice round turn at each end, and it’s for that reason that moving fixtures away from the jump season-proper wasn’t popular with everyone. Simply, there is no track fairer to inexperienced horses, whether they’re being introduced to racing in bumpers, starting over hurdles or making a chasing debut. The obstacles on both courses are well spaced out, and because the bends are more like proper semi-circles, rather than a sudden right-angle or anything like that, horses won’t lose ground turning for home. Once in line, if they’re habitually jumping right, then they can get away with that. There was a change in configuration that came in for the start of its 2012 campaign. As happens at Southwell, chases, hurdles and bumpers are now all run on the same strip of ground. Typically it's chases first, fences off, bumper, then the fixed brush hurdles used here are put in position. I'm guessing that the new portable fences were late arriving, for the first 2012 meeting was hurdles only, then on May 23rd chasing returned, but with only six fences per circuit (so only 12, not 18, jumped in 2m7f chases). The next meeting had eight fences per chase circuit, then the full compliment of nine each full lap was in place from June 20th. One race here at Worcester stands out like a beacon from the rest of its programme, and that is the Fred Rimell Memorial, a long-established contest named in honour of one of National Hunt racing’s greatest trainers. Nowadays run as a beginners’ chase, in 2005 it was won by Idle Talk, who ran second in the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham, and in 2006 by the mare Heltornic, who went on to take the Grade 2 Towton Novices’ and Grade 3 Red Square Vodka Handicap (now called the Grand National Trial) at Haydock. The 2010 running went to The Giant Bolster, subsequently of course runner-up to Synchronised in the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Hurdle races at Worcester are over the Fixed Brush obstacles.

Website: www.worcester-racecourse.co.uk. TV: At The Races

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© Roy Waterhouse
2012

'The Meal Deal'