Jump to content

Goodwood Racecourse

Edit links
Coordinates: 50°53′49″N 0°44′33″W / 50.89694°N 0.74250°W / 50.89694; -0.74250
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Monkbot (talk | contribs) at 00:46, 7 January 2021 (Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 2 templates: hyphenate params (2×);). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the motor racing venue, see Goodwood Circuit.
Goodwood
LocationChichester, West Sussex
Owned byGoodwood Estate
Screened onRacing TV
ITV
Course typeFlat
Notable racesStewards' Cup
Nassau Stakes
Goodwood Cup
Sussex Stakes
Official website
Goodwood Racecourse stand
View past the main stand
The racecourse

Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in late July and early August, which is one of the highlights of the British flat racing calendar, and is home to three of the UK's 36 annual Group 1 flat races, the Sussex Stakes, the Goodwood Cup and the Nassau Stakes. Although the race meeting has become known as 'Glorious Goodwood', it is sponsored by Qatar and officially called the 'Qatar Goodwood Festival'.[1]

In 1895

It is considered to enjoy an attractive setting to the north of Trundle Iron Age hill fort, which is used as an informal grandstand with views of the whole course. One problem is that its proximity to the coast means that it can get foggy.

This is an unusual, complex racecourse with a straight six furlongs—the "Stewards' Cup Course"—which is uphill for the first furlong and mostly downhill thereafter. There is a tight right-handed loop at the far end of the straight on which there are starts for various longer distance courses. These include the 1 mile 2 furlongs (1m 2f) "Craven Course", the 1m 4f "Gratwicke Course" and the 1m 6f "Bentinck Course". The start for the 2m 5f "Cup Course" is quite close to the winning post—horses travel outwards on the straight, around the loop and back. Throughout the loop there are severe undulations and sharp turns. The course is used for flat racing only.

From 1968 to 1970 the course's late summer meeting was shown on ITV, and from the early 2000s some races from the course occasionally appeared on Channel 4, but otherwise the course had been covered exclusively by the BBC for 50 years from 1956 (when it first appeared on television) to 2006. In 2007 the rights passed to Channel 4 Racing. Since 2017 races have been live on ITV Racing after the channel won the rights to televise horse racing from Channel 4.

In the late 18th century, Goodwood became the location for the first flag start on a British racecourse, at the behest of Lord George Bentinck, after a particularly shambolic start involving jockey Sam Arnull caused by an elderly deaf starter with a speech impediment.[2]

Notable races

Month Meeting DOW Race Name Type Grade Distance Age/Sex
May Spring Meeting Saturday Daisy Warwick Stakes Flat Listed 1m 4f 4yo + f
May Spring Meeting Thursday Height of Fashion Stakes Flat Listed 1m 1f 192y 3yo only f
May Spring Meeting Friday Cocked Hat Stakes Flat Listed 1m 3f 3yo only
July-August Glorious Festival Tuesday Molecomb Stakes Flat Group 3 5f 2yo only
July-August Glorious Festival Tuesday Lennox Stakes Flat Group 2 7f 3yo +
July-August Glorious Festival Wednesday Vintage Stakes Flat Group 2 7f 2yo only
July-August Glorious Festival Wednesday Gordon Stakes Flat Group 3 1m 4f 3yo only
July-August Glorious Festival Wednesday Sussex Stakes Flat Group 1 1m 3yo +
July-August Glorious Festival Thursday Richmond Stakes Flat Group 2 6f 2yo only
July-August Glorious Festival Thursday Lillie Langtry Stakes Flat Group 2 1m 6f 3yo + f
July-August Glorious Festival Thursday Goodwood Cup Flat Group 1 2m 3yo +
July-August Glorious Festival Friday Oak Tree Stakes Flat Group 3 7f 3yo + f
July-August Glorious Festival Friday King George Stakes Flat Group 2 5f 3yo +
July-August Glorious Festival Friday Thoroughbred Stakes Flat Group 3 1m 3yo only
July-August Glorious Festival Friday Glorious Stakes Flat Group 3 1m 4f 4yo +
July-August Glorious Festival Saturday Stewards' Cup Flat Handicap 6f 3yo +
July-August Glorious Festival Saturday Nassau Stakes Flat Group 1 1m 1f 192y 3yo + f
August August Meeting Saturday Celebration Mile Flat Group 2 1m 3yo +
August August Meeting Saturday Prestige Stakes Flat Group 3 7f 2yo only f
August August Meeting Saturday March Stakes Flat Listed 1m 6f 3yo only
August August Meeting Sunday Supreme Stakes Flat Group 3 7f 3yo +
September Autumn Meeting Wednesday Foundation Stakes Flat Listed 1m 1f 192y 3yo +
September Autumn Meeting Tuesday Stardom Stakes Flat Conditions 7f 2yo only
Other races

References

  1. ^ "Duke of Richmond to take Goodwood brand on the road to Qatar". Retrieved 6 Feb 2018.
  2. ^ "Was It "Go" or "No"?". The Sunday Post. 1 August 1926. Retrieved 21 January 2014 – via British Newspaper Archive.

50°53′49″N 0°44′33″W / 50.89694°N 0.74250°W / 50.89694; -0.74250

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goodwood_Racecourse&oldid=998781545"