Equestrian “
we have seen large field sizes since we opened on 17th May, with up to 100 runners per meeting. At the Plate meeting, we have had to add a ‘reserve race’, the Northumberland Vase, with a £75,000 prize fund for horses that didn’t get an opportunity to run in the main race, such is the demand.” The course also features a National
Hunt jumps track, located inside the all- weather, hosting the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and Rehearsal Chase in November, and Grand National trial, the Eider Chase, in February. Traditionally flat and national hunt
seasons bookended each other, with twelve jumps fixtures from November to April, but from this autumn all-weather racing will run alongside ‘the winter game’. Given High Gosforth Park’s location in
There was some negative feeling when we announced our plans, but the 2016 Northumberland Plate featured runners who are regulars in turf races, not just ‘all-weather’ horses, and we have seen large field sizes since we opened on 17th May
Head of Grounds Mark Ryan (left) and Clerk of the Course James Armstrong in front of one of the new Claas tractors
the north of England, battling with the elements has always been an issue. “The National Hunt track has been
comprehensively drained over the years. At present, contractors Souters Sports are working to address any areas that have caused concern over the previous season,” comments James. The increasingly unpredictable summer
weather frequently led to the loss of flat fixtures and threatened the Northumberland Plate in 2012 during Newcastle’s infamous ‘Thunder Thursday’, when severe storms hit the area. “We had 40mm of rain in twenty minutes on the Thursday of the meeting and, as well as flooding the buildings, the track became unraceable. We abandoned that day’s racing and cancelled the Friday to try and prepare for the main card on the Saturday. We only just managed it and the Northumberland
Plate was run on heavy going,” he recalls. By 2014, the odds were increasingly
stacked in favour of a switch to all-weather flat racing. Whilst there are long term commercial benefits for Newcastle, there are wider advantages for the racing in the north which needed an all-weather track to maximise opportunities for the horse population. “There is a huge equine population in the
area, with many Scottish trainers also within easy reach. Trainers don’t want to travel too far and, with no all-weather track north of Southwell, there’s a lot of interest in the opportunity to race regularly on a consistent, reliable surface.” “All-weather racing is also seeing a
resurgence in popularity with an annual championship culminating in a £1 million meeting at Lingfield Park, and there’s no reason that we couldn’t hold qualifiers for
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