Best Racecourses in the UK | Paddock Punter

The United Kingdom is home to 59 licensed racecourses — more per capita than almost any country on earth. From historic Newmarket to atmospheric Cheltenham, each track has its own character, history, and challenges. Here are our top 10.

1. Cheltenham

Location: Prestbury Park, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Type: Jump racing
Best occasion: The Festival, March

There is no racecourse in the world quite like Cheltenham. The natural amphitheatre setting, the undulating course with its famous uphill finish, and the roar of the crowd as horses climb the hill — Cheltenham is jump racing at its absolute finest. The Festival draws 250,000 fans across four days in March for the sport's greatest week.

2. Ascot

Location: Ascot, Berkshire
Type: Flat and Jump
Best occasion: Royal Ascot, June

Britain's most glamorous racecourse. The straight course is one of the fairest in Europe and the scene of Royal Ascot each June — a five-day festival of top-class racing and social pageantry unlike any other. Jumps racing returns in November with the British Champions Series.

3. Newmarket

Location: Newmarket, Suffolk
Type: Flat only
Best occasion: The Classics, May and October

The home of British racing. Newmarket has two courses — the Rowley Mile (used spring and autumn) and the July Course (summer). The town is built around racing — stud farms, training yards, and the National Horseracing Museum all call it home. The 2,000 Guineas and 1,000 Guineas — two of Britain's five Classic races — are run here.

4. Epsom Downs

Location: Epsom, Surrey
Type: Flat only
Best occasion: Derby Weekend, June

Home of the Derby and the Oaks — two of the five English Classics — Epsom is defined by its extraordinary course. The horseshoe-shaped track drops sharply on the way out before sweeping through the famous Tattenham Corner and running steeply downhill to a camber-banked home straight. No other course tests a thoroughbred's physique quite like Epsom.

5. Goodwood

Location: Chichester, West Sussex
Type: Flat only
Best occasion: Glorious Goodwood, July–August

Perched on the South Downs with views stretching to the sea, Goodwood is the most naturally beautiful racecourse in Britain. Glorious Goodwood — five days at the end of July — attracts the summer Flat racing crowd in its finest form. The undulating, tight track catches horses out who aren't ideally suited to it.

6. Sandown Park

Location: Esher, Surrey
Type: Flat and Jump
Best occasion: Eclipse Stakes (Flat), Tingle Creek Chase (Jumps)

One of London's closest racecourses, Sandown is a right-handed circuit with a unique figure-of-eight layout for its jump track. The Eclipse Stakes — a prestigious midsummer championship — is held here. The Tingle Creek Chase in December is one of the jump season's best two-mile chases.

7. York

Location: York, North Yorkshire
Type: Flat only
Best occasion: The Ebor Festival, August

York's Knavesmire is often called the Ascot of the North. The wide, galloping track suits big, strong horses and the Ebor Festival in August — headlined by the International Stakes and the Ebor Handicap — attracts some of the best milers and middle-distance horses of the season.

8. Aintree

Location: Aintree, Liverpool
Type: Jump racing
Best occasion: Grand National Festival, April

Home of the Grand National — the most famous horse race in the world. Aintree's unique National course with its distinctive fences (Becher's Brook, The Chair, Canal Turn) has no equivalent anywhere in racing. The three-day Grand National Festival in April is one of the great events in British sport.

9. Haydock Park

Location: Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside
Type: Flat and Jump
Best occasion: Sprint Cup (Flat), Grand National Trial (Jumps)

A quality, fair track in the north-west with a loyal following. Haydock's flat, galloping circuit suits strong, powerful horses rather than nimble ones. The Sprint Cup in September is one of the most competitive sprint championship races of the Flat season.

10. Chester

Location: Chester, Cheshire
Type: Flat only
Best occasion: Chester May Festival

The Roman Roodee — the oldest racecourse in use in Britain (dating to 1539) — is one of the most unique tracks in the world. Chester's circular, left-handed loop is barely a mile round, making it the tightest track in British Flat racing. Low draws and speedy, front-running horses excel here. The Chester May Festival is one of the great northern Flat meetings.