“Whilst there is evidence of racing being staged among


nomadic tribespeople and in Ancient Greece, Britain takes the credit for inventing a modern form.”


Racing is Britain’s second-largest spectator sport, behind only football in terms of people going through the gates, with al- most six million people counted at meet- ings in 2017. Not only is it an incredibly enjoyable


BeYoNd AsCoT


day out, it is a sport full of colour and rich in history. Whilst there is evidence of rac- ing being staged among nomadic tribes- people and back in Ancient Greece, Britain can take the credit for inventing a modern form which has now been translated to countries all around the globe. Tere has been organised racing since the times of Charles II in the 17th century and the Derby traces all the way back to 1780. Most people will have heard of the


Grand National and maybe placed a bet on it, or perhaps have been lucky enough to have attended Royal Ascot, but one of rac- ing’s greatest attractions in this country is that there are at least a couple of meetings somewhere every day of the week, bar Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We have 60 racecourses around Britain, which come in all shapes and sizes, and many of the best and most famous tracks in the world. It can sometimes appear to be a tricky


sport to understand for beginners, with the strange language and procedures, but ab- solutely everyone should be able to appre- ciate the speed and beauty of the horses. I


was bitten by the bug many years ago and always count myself lucky to have been able to make it my living by becoming a racehorse trainer.


Te sport’s ruling body, the British Horseracing Authority, lists the meetings in full on its website (www.britishhorserac- ing.com) and it is really just a matter of picking the most suitable day. It will usu- ally cost between £15 and £20 to go to a smaller midweek meeting and a little more to attend a bigger event on a Saturday, de- pending upon whether you go into the Grandstand enclosure or the slightly smarter Members area. For the big festival meetings it can be upwards of £50 and nearly every racecourse offers private boxes and corporate hospitality. You can usually get discounts by booking early with the racecourse, whereas if you’re the owner of one of the horses running, your entrance ticket and the opportunity to go into the owners and trainers bar are some of the perks. Bespoke company Racing Breaks


HoW Do YoU Go RaCiNg?


(www.racingbreaks.com) is something of a one-stop shop. It organises tickets and hos- pitality to most British meetings and to those further afield such as the Dubai World Cup, Breeders’ Cup in America and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris.


James Pollard, Epsom Races – the Race Over 1834–35


Racing Jargon


Colt – Ungelded male horse of less than five years of age. Gelding – Castrated male horse.


Filly – Female horse of less than five years of age.


Mare – Female horse five years old and up.


Furlong – Measuring distance of races. One furlong is 220 yards (or 1/8 of a mile) marked out by posts on the racecourse.


Hurdle – Smaller obstacles made of brush panels and around 3 ½ ft. high. Jump horses usually start off in hurdles races for a year or two before graduating to chase races.


Chase – Larger fences are used in Steeple chase races, made from birch packed into a wooden frame, and at least 4ft 6in high. Chase fences can have a ditch on the take-off side.


Handicap – Many day-to-day races are handicaps. Every horse is assigned an individual rating (or mark) by the authorities according to its previous performances. The higher the rating, the more weight the horse must carry in its saddle, as the idea is that all of the horses should finish in a row.


Group/Graded race – Events for the best horses, starting off at three and going down to one, which include races such as the Derby and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.


Stalls –The metal starting gates which horses jump from in Flat races. The individual starting stalls are allotted at random to each horse, and the position can have a distinct advantage depending on the race. Jumps races do not use stalls, instead horses line up behind a tape and the starter sets them on their way.


Length –The margin in which distances between horses are measured at the finish. It is around eight feet, going from the nose to the tail of an average horse.


www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 5


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