Pontefract Racecourse is a

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter know ...

venue located in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Layout

The track is left-handed undulating course with a sharp bend into the home straight. Horses drawn low (i.e. on the inside of the track) usually have the advantage. The final 3

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...

s of the track are uphill, making it quite testing. The course was originally a horseshoe of 1½ miles, but in 1983, it was converted into a full circuit of about 2m ½f. This made it the longest continuous flat racing circuit in Europe and allowed it to stage one of the longest races in the calendar, the Pontefract Marathon at 2m 5f 139y.

History

$The grandstand at Pontefract Racecourse - geograph$ Racing is recorded as having taken place in Pontefract as early as 1648, just before the local

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

was taken by the forces of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

. Races were held in the meadows near the town but these were discontinued by 1769. The townsfolk restarted the sport in 1801 and it has continued ever since. In 1827 the races were held in September and reported as being very fashionably attended. While it cannot "claim to be one of Yorkshire's major courses" it was used for some major races during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when other courses were out of action. These included the war substitute Lincoln and

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. November was the ninth month of the calendar of Romulus . November retained its name (from the Latin ''novem'' meaning " ...

Handicaps. Pontefract installed a

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the fini ...

in 1952 and was also the first English course to have a dope testing facility. The course traditionally began its afternoon race meetings at 2.45 pm – later than most other courses – so that miners at the adjacent colliery could finish the morning shift in time to go racing. This remained the case until the colliery closed in 2002.

Facts and figures

Flat

*Number of fixtures (2012) – 15 *Prize money (2012) – £731,810 *Top trainer (2007 – 2011 inc.) – Richard Fahey, 28 wins from 213 races

Notable races

References

Bibliography

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External links

Official websiteCourse guide on GG.COMCourse guide on At The Races
{{Racecourses in Yorkshire Horse racing venues in England Sport in Pontefract Sports venues in West Yorkshire Pontefract