Plumpton Racecourse is a

National Hunt 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, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

racecourse in the village of

Plumpton, East Sussex Plumpton is a village and civil parish in the Lewes (district), Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located north-west of Lewes. The parish measures in length on its north–south axis and at its widest on the B2116 Underhi ...

near

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

and

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. Racing first took place at Plumpton in 1884. Its most notable race is the Sussex National Handicap Chase.

History

Plumpton Racecourse opened in 1884, but the first events at the course took place in 1876 with Thomas Henry Case undertaking hare coursing. In 1961, Isidore Kerman bought the course and significantly improved the facilities, with the Southdown Stand opening in 1987 under his stewardship. The Queen Mother had her first winner at Plumpton with Super Fox in 1963. In 1998, the course was sold to Adrian Pratt and Peter Savill. Plumpton Racecourse - geograph

Several notable charity races have taken place at Plumpton. In March 1980, HRH

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, riding the favourite Long Wharf, finished second to television presenter Derek Thompson in the Mad Hatters private sweepstake. In October 2001, television presenters Alice Plunkett and Alex Hammond finished 1st and 2nd respectively in a charity race. In 2005, Voy Por Ustedes won the Coral Casino Handicap Chase on his way to winning the

Arkle Challenge Trophy The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham, England, over a ...

at the Cheltenham Festival. On 9 February 2009,

AP McCoy Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and Britain, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners and was Champion Jockey a recor ...

won his 3,000th race at Plumpton.

The course

Plumpton is a tight, undulating, left-handed course that features only National Hunt racing. There are 7 fences. Both the hurdle course and chase course feature the same, uphill run in to the winners post. There has been no water jump on the chase course since April 1999. Plumpton railway station borders to the north and has a footbridge link to the track.

References

{{Coord, 50, 55, 29.61, N, 0, 03, 41.82, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Horse racing venues in England Sports venues in East Sussex Sports venues completed in 1884 Racecourse