Newcastle Racecourse is a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

course located at

Gosforth Park Gosforth Park is a park north of Gosforth in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It houses Newcastle Racecourse, Virgin Money Unity Arena, a Britannia hotel, two golf courses, a garden centre and a football centre. It is also home to G ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, England, owned by

Arena Racing Company Arena Racing Company, also called ARC Racing and Leisure Group is a UK private company, created in 2012 by the merger of Arena Leisure and Northern Racing. It owns and operates 16 racecourses in Great Britain, accounting for 39% of British rac ...

. It stages both flat and

National Hunt racing National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, horse racing in Great Britain, Great Britain and horse racing in Ireland, Ireland. Jump Racin ...

, with its biggest meeting being the

Northumberland Plate The Northumberland Plate is a Flat racing, flat Handicap (horse racing), handicap Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newcastle Racecour ...

held annually in June.

History

Horseracing began in the North East over 350 years ago, beginning in

Killingworth Killingworth is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, within the historic county of Northumberland. Killingworth was built as a new town in the 1960s, next to Killingworth Village, which existed for centuries before the new town ...

in the early 17th century. A King's Plate for 5 year olds, run in 3 mile heats was instigated by George II in 1753. The Town Moor hosted the first recorded Northumberland Plate in 1833 and did so until 1881 when the race transferred to High Gosforth Park. 1882 saw the first running of the Plate at Gosforth Park with a new flat and chase course, new stand and stabling for 100 horses. In 1994 Sir Stanley Clarke's

Northern Racing Northern Racing was a private company that owned ten horse racing courses and one golf course in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1998 by Sir Stanley Clarke CBE, and after being listed on the Alternative Investment Market, was owned privatel ...

company acquired Newcastle Racecourse. In April, 2002 the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

businessman

David Williamson David Keith Williamson (born 1942) is an Australian playwright, who has also written screenplays and teleplays. He became known in the early 1970s with his political comic drama '' Don's Party'', and other well-known plays include '' The Clu ...

joined Newcastle Racecourse as managing director and during a six-year period he transformed their fortunes and helped boost turnover from £2.5m to £6.5m. The Northumberland Plate weekend now brings in £30m to the regional economy and he also introduced Ladies' Day which now attracts over 15,000 racegoers. In April, 2008 he was headhunted by

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and appointed Executive Director (Operations). Williamson was replaced by

Mark Spincer Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

. In 2007, Newcastle's owners, Northern Racing, changed hands and came under control of the businessmen

David and Simon Reuben David Reuben (born 1941) and Simon Reuben (born 1944) are British businessmen. In 2024, they were named the third-richest family in the UK by the '' Sunday Times Rich List'', with a net worth of £24.9 billion. Early life and background Th ...

, who then subsequently merged it with another of their companies,

in 2012 forming the current company that owns the racecourse,

. In December 2013, Arena Racing Company, announced plans to change the flat turf course into an all-weather track while retaining a turf jump racing course. The new Tapeta track was completed in early 2016 with the first meeting held on 17 May of that year.

Notable races

Discontinued Flat races: * Beeswing Stakes (''last run in 1999'') *

Seaton Delaval Stakes The Seaton Delaval Stakes was a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old horses. It was run at Newcastle, and in its later years it was scheduled to take place in August. History The event was named after Seaton Delaval, a ...

(''last run in 1985'')

References

External links

Newcastle Racecourse (Official website)Course guide on GG.COMCourse guide on At The Races
{{Horse racing in Great Britain Sports venues in Newcastle upon Tyne Horse racing venues in England Sports venues completed in 1882 1882 establishments in England