The 19 courses that make up Yorkshire’s racing heritage
The crown jewel on the Knavesmire at York is encircled by four courses in the North Riding – Redcar, Ripon, Thirsk and Catterick – and by Wetherby and Pontefract in the west, Beverley in the east and Doncaster to the south. The York course attracts around 350,000 spectators in an average year and is second only to Ascot in the prize money available at each meeting.
Doncaster, meanwhile, is one of the oldest and largest courses in the country and home to the world’s oldest classic race, the St Leger, first run in 1776.
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Hide AdBut Yorkshire’s racing story also extends to Hambleton, where a course said to be one of the finest in the country operated until 1911. It also takes in Hull, Northallerton and Richmond, which closed during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
And until the 1700s there were also courses at Bedale, Bradford, Selby, Stokesley, Follifoot near Harrogate and Bishop Burton near Beverley,
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James Mitchinson
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