Horse Racing - National Hunt Courses - Worcester

Racing has taken place at Worcester since 1718 and in recent years the course has emerged as a popular venue for summer jumping, staging 20 National Hunt fixtures from May to October in 2015.

Among the feature races staged at the track are the Valerie Lewis Memorial Handicap Chase and the Richard Davis Memorial Chase. The Valerie Lewis Memorial Handicap Chase, named in honour of the co-owner of three-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate who lived in Worcester, takes place in June over an extended two and a half miles.

The Richard Davis Memorial Novices’ Handicap Chase, run in the memory of the young jump jockey who died in a fall at Southwell in 1996, is also run over an extended two and a half miles and usually takes place at the start of the traditional jumps season.

With its flat oval course Worcester is seen an ideal place to introduce a novice and many leading West Country trainers run their horses at the track in order to gain valuable racecourse experience; 2004 Cheltenham Festival Stayers’ Hurdle hero Iris’s Gift won his first two career starts at Worcester.

Characteristics

Flat, left-handed with easy turns. Portable fences take little jumping, the course being one of the easiest in the country to negotiate, though many show a tendency to go right in the home straight. The long home straight should, in theory, give hold-up horses plenty of time to recover ground, but when conditions ride quick in summer months it pays more often than not to race handily. Beware betting on close finishes as camera is situated some way short of winning line.

Left handed
Galloping
Flat

Ayr
Doncaster
Nottingham