UK Racecourses: The Full A to Z List of British Tracks

There are 59 licensed racecourses in Great Britain: 51 in England, 5 in Scotland and 3 in Wales. That is the figure the British Horseracing Authority gives (“There are 59 racecourses in Britain, from Perth in Scotland to Newton Abbot in Devon”) and the one Great British Racing uses on its find-a-racecourse map. Some lists of UK racecourses say 61, because they add the two courses in Northern Ireland, which race under Horse Racing Ireland rather than the BHA.

Below is every one of the 59 in a single A to Z table, then the same tracks grouped by type and by region, the biggest and oldest, who owns them, and the course features that matter when you read a racecard. We don’t publish tips: this page is a reference you can come back to.

UK Racecourses A to Z: All 59 British Tracks

The table follows the current list on Wikipedia’s List of British racecourses, which we checked on 2 October 2026, for the county, country and type of racing. The famous races come from Wikipedia’s lists of British Flat and National Hunt races, or from the course’s own website. “Both” means the course stages Flat and jumps racing; “AW” marks the six all-weather tracks.

Racecourse	Country and area	Racing	Famous meeting or race
Aintree	England, Merseyside	Jumps	Grand National (April)
Ascot	England, Berkshire	Both	Royal Ascot; King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
Ayr	Scotland, Ayrshire	Both	Scottish Grand National; Ayr Gold Cup
Bangor-on-Dee	Wales, Clwyd	Jumps	Richard Aston Memorial Mares’ Novices’ Chase
Bath	England, Somerset	Flat	Lansdown Fillies’ Stakes
Beverley	England, East Riding of Yorkshire	Flat	Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes
Brighton	England, East Sussex	Flat	Brighton Festival (August)
Carlisle	England, Cumbria	Both	Carlisle Bell
Cartmel	England, Cumbria	Jumps	Cumbria Crystal Hurdle (July)
Catterick	England, North Yorkshire	Both	North Yorkshire Grand National
Chelmsford City	England, Essex	Flat (AW)	Chelmer Fillies’ Stakes (no racing since March 2026)
Cheltenham	England, Gloucestershire	Jumps	Cheltenham Festival; Gold Cup
Chepstow	Wales, Gwent	Both	Welsh Grand National (December)
Chester	England, Cheshire	Flat	Chester Cup; Chester Vase
Doncaster	England, South Yorkshire	Both	St Leger; Lincoln Handicap
Epsom Downs	England, Surrey	Flat	The Derby; The Oaks
Exeter	England, Devon	Jumps	Haldon Gold Cup
Fakenham	England, Norfolk	Jumps	Norfolk National
Ffos Las	Wales, Dyfed	Both	Opened 2009, Britain’s newest jumps course for 80 years
Fontwell Park	England, West Sussex	Jumps	National Spirit Hurdle
Goodwood	England, West Sussex	Flat	Glorious Goodwood; Sussex Stakes
Great Yarmouth	England, Norfolk	Flat	John Musker Fillies’ Stakes
Hamilton Park	Scotland, Lanarkshire	Flat	Lanark Silver Bell
Haydock Park	England, Merseyside	Both	Sprint Cup; Lancashire Chase
Hereford	England, Herefordshire	Jumps	Reopened in 2016 after four years closed
Hexham	England, Northumberland	Jumps	Heart of All England Maiden Hunters’ Chase
Huntingdon	England, Cambridgeshire	Jumps	Peterborough Chase
Kelso	Scotland, Roxburgh	Jumps	Morebattle Hurdle
Kempton Park	England, Surrey	Both (AW)	King George VI Chase (Boxing Day)
Leicester	England, Leicestershire	Both	Racing at Oadby since 1883
Lingfield Park	England, Surrey	Both (AW)	Winter Derby
Ludlow	England, Shropshire	Jumps	Forbra Gold Cup (February)
Market Rasen	England, Lincolnshire	Jumps	Summer Plate (July)
Musselburgh	Scotland, East Lothian	Both	Edinburgh National
Newbury	England, Berkshire	Both	Lockinge Stakes; Challow Novices’ Hurdle
Newcastle	England, Tyne and Wear	Both (AW)	Northumberland Plate; Fighting Fifth Hurdle
Newmarket	England, Suffolk	Flat	2000 Guineas; 1000 Guineas; July Cup
Newton Abbot	England, Devon	Jumps	Summer jumps racing
Nottingham	England, Nottinghamshire	Flat	Nottinghamshire Oaks
Perth	Scotland, Perth and Kinross	Jumps	Highland National
Plumpton	England, East Sussex	Jumps	Sussex National
Pontefract	England, West Yorkshire	Flat	Pontefract Castle Stakes
Redcar	England, North Yorkshire	Flat	Zetland Gold Cup
Ripon	England, North Yorkshire	Flat	Great St Wilfrid Stakes
Salisbury	England, Wiltshire	Flat	Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes
Sandown Park	England, Surrey	Both	Eclipse Stakes; Tingle Creek Chase
Sedgefield	England, County Durham	Jumps	Durham National
Southwell	England, Nottinghamshire	Both (AW)	Golden Rose Stakes
Stratford	England, Warwickshire	Jumps	Stratford Foxhunters’ Champion Hunters’ Chase
Taunton	England, Somerset	Jumps	Portman Cup
Thirsk	England, North Yorkshire	Flat	Thirsk Hunt Cup
Uttoxeter	England, Staffordshire	Jumps	Midlands Grand National
Warwick	England, Warwickshire	Jumps	Classic Chase
Wetherby	England, West Yorkshire	Both	Charlie Hall Chase
Wincanton	England, Somerset	Jumps	Kingwell Hurdle
Windsor	England, Berkshire	Both	Winter Hill Stakes
Wolverhampton	England, West Midlands	Flat (AW)	Lady Wulfruna Stakes
Worcester	England, Worcestershire	Jumps	Summer chase series final (September)
York	England, North Yorkshire	Flat	Juddmonte International; Ebor Handicap

A note on Chelmsford City: it is still one of the 59, but it has not raced since March 2026. Its operator went into administration, and the BHA declined to license the new company formed to replace it. In July 2026 Arena Racing Company agreed terms with the freeholders to take over, and the Racing Post reported that racing could restart at the earliest opportunity, once the BHA grants the licences. As of a 10 September report, its September fixtures had been moved to Southwell.

How Many Racecourses Are There in the UK?

The short answer is 59 in Great Britain and 61 in the United Kingdom. The difference is entirely Northern Ireland.

Why the counts say 59, 60 or 61

The BHA licenses racing in England, Scotland and Wales, and both it and Great British Racing put that figure at 59. Northern Ireland has two courses, Down Royal and Downpatrick. They are in the UK, but as Wikipedia puts it, racing at Down Royal “comes under the authority of Horse Racing Ireland”. A racecourse guide published on Fontwell Park’s website (an Arena Racing Company course) counts all 61 for that reason, split as 51 in England, 5 in Scotland, 3 in Wales and 2 in Northern Ireland.

You will also see 60 quoted on some sites. We could not find a primary source for that number, so we use the BHA’s 59 for Britain and 61 for the UK as a whole.

Courses that have closed or reopened

The list moves slowly, but it does move. Hereford closed after its final meeting in December 2012 and reopened in October 2016. Towcester, according to Wikipedia, was not operating as a horse racing venue as of 2024 and is no longer counted. Ffos Las in Wales is the newcomer: when it opened in 2009 it was the first new National Hunt course built in the UK for 80 years.

Point-to-points are not included

The 59 covers racing “under rules”. Point-to-point courses, where amateur jumps racing takes place, are excluded from Wikipedia’s figure and from the BHA’s.

Racecourses by Type: Flat, Jumps and All-Weather

Using the codes in Wikipedia’s current list, British racecourses split almost evenly three ways. Other sites classify a handful of courses differently, so you may see 17 or 24 in place of 18 or 23.

Flat only (18)

Bath, Beverley, Brighton, Chelmsford City, Chester, Epsom Downs, Goodwood, Great Yarmouth, Hamilton Park, Newmarket, Nottingham, Pontefract, Redcar, Ripon, Salisbury, Thirsk, Wolverhampton and York. Between them they stage four of the five Classics: the 2000 and 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, and the Derby and Oaks at Epsom. The fifth, the St Leger, is at dual-purpose Doncaster.

Jumps only (23)

Aintree, Bangor-on-Dee, Cartmel, Cheltenham, Exeter, Fakenham, Fontwell Park, Hereford, Hexham, Huntingdon, Kelso, Ludlow, Market Rasen, Newton Abbot, Perth, Plumpton, Sedgefield, Stratford, Taunton, Uttoxeter, Warwick, Wincanton and Worcester. Seasons differ: Ludlow races from October to May, while Newton Abbot promotes “thrilling summer jumps racing”. Cheltenham and Aintree are both here, alongside small country courses such as Cartmel and Fakenham.

Dual-purpose (18)

Ascot, Ayr, Carlisle, Catterick, Chepstow, Doncaster, Ffos Las, Haydock Park, Kempton Park, Leicester, Lingfield Park, Musselburgh, Newbury, Newcastle, Sandown Park, Southwell, Wetherby and Windsor stage both codes.

The six all-weather tracks

The All-Weather Championships site names six all-weather tracks: Polytrack at Lingfield Park, Chelmsford City and Kempton Park, and Tapeta at Wolverhampton, Southwell and Newcastle. Southwell raced on Fibresand until it switched to Tapeta in 2021. All six are in England, and between them they keep Flat racing going through the winter.

Racecourses by Region: England, Scotland and Wales

We can’t embed an interactive racecourse map, so here is the next best thing: every course grouped by area. The English groupings are ours, based on each course’s county.

Region	Courses	Count
Scotland	Ayr, Hamilton Park, Kelso, Musselburgh, Perth	5
Wales	Bangor-on-Dee, Chepstow, Ffos Las	3
North East England and Cumbria	Carlisle, Cartmel, Hexham, Newcastle, Sedgefield	5
Yorkshire	Beverley, Catterick, Doncaster, Pontefract, Redcar, Ripon, Thirsk, Wetherby, York	9
North West England	Aintree, Chester, Haydock Park	3
Midlands	Hereford, Leicester, Ludlow, Market Rasen, Nottingham, Southwell, Stratford, Uttoxeter, Warwick, Wolverhampton, Worcester	11
East of England	Chelmsford City, Fakenham, Great Yarmouth, Huntingdon, Newmarket	5
South East England	Ascot, Brighton, Epsom Downs, Fontwell Park, Goodwood, Kempton Park, Lingfield Park, Newbury, Plumpton, Sandown Park, Windsor	11
South West England	Bath, Cheltenham, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Salisbury, Taunton, Wincanton	7

Scotland’s racecourses

Scotland’s five include the course the BHA uses to mark one end of British racing: “from Perth in Scotland to Newton Abbot in Devon”. Ayr stages both the Scottish Grand National and the Ayr Gold Cup, one of the Flat’s heritage handicaps. Hamilton Park is Flat only, home of the Lanark Silver Bell; Kelso and Perth are jumps only; Ayr and Musselburgh stage both codes.

Wales’s racecourses

Chepstow is home to the Welsh Grand National, run in December. Bangor-on-Dee is a left-handed jumps course with no grandstand, according to Wikipedia, and is owned by the Chester Race Company. Ffos Las, opened in 2009, is the youngest of the three and stages both codes.

England by area

Yorkshire alone has nine courses, one more than Scotland and Wales combined, and they include York and Doncaster. The South East and the Midlands have 11 each. The six all-weather tracks are spread out: two in the South East (Kempton Park, Lingfield Park), two in the Midlands (Wolverhampton, Southwell), one in the East (Chelmsford City) and one in the North East (Newcastle).

The Biggest and Best-Known UK Racecourses

“Biggest” means different things. The Arena Racing Company guide calls Newmarket “the biggest racecourse in the UK”. Newmarket actually has two courses, the Rowley Mile and the July Course, and its wide track lets the Cambridgeshire and the Cesarewitch take fields of up to 35, which Wikipedia says are the largest in the UK after the Grand National. By crowd, Cheltenham’s capacity is 67,500. By prize money, Wikipedia ranks York third in Britain, and second only to Ascot per meeting.

The big eight and their headline races

Course	Headline races	When
Ascot	Royal Ascot; King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes; Champion Stakes	June, July, October
Cheltenham	Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase	March
Aintree	Grand National	April
Epsom Downs	The Derby, The Oaks, Coronation Cup	June
Newmarket	2000 Guineas, 1000 Guineas, July Cup	May, July
York	Juddmonte International, Ebor Handicap, Nunthorpe Stakes	August
Goodwood	Sussex Stakes, Goodwood Cup, Stewards’ Cup	July and August
Doncaster	St Leger, Lincoln Handicap	September, March

The festivals

Five of these meetings have pages of their own on our site. The Cheltenham Festival is the jumps championship meeting in March. The Grand National is run at Aintree in April over a left-handed course of about two and a quarter miles with 16 fences. Royal Ascot runs over five days, generally in the third week of June, and the Epsom Derby is run in June. Glorious Goodwood, officially the Qatar Goodwood Festival, follows in late July and early August.

Christmas and winter racing

Kempton Park’s King George VI Chase is held every Boxing Day, alongside the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase. Our Boxing Day racing guide covers the whole holiday programme.

The Oldest and Smallest Racecourses in Britain

Chester is officially the oldest racecourse in Britain. Guinness World Records lists it as the “oldest racecourse still in operation”, and Wikipedia gives 1539 as the year racing began on the Roodee (some older sources say 1511 or 1512).

The ten oldest by opening date

Using the opening dates in Wikipedia’s list (“by” means racing is recorded by that year):

1. Chester, 1539
2. Salisbury, 1584
3. Doncaster, by 1595
4. Epsom Downs, by 1661
5. Newmarket, 1667
6. Warwick, 1707
7. York, 1709
8. Ascot, 1711
9. Worcester, by 1718
10. Ludlow, by 1725

Older than the dates suggest

Early dates are often first records rather than true openings. Doncaster, for example, is described by Wikipedia as having records of regular meetings going back to the 16th century, and its St Leger is Britain’s oldest Classic.

The smallest racecourse in Britain

There is no official ranking by size, so treat any single answer with care. Wikipedia describes Chester as “thought to be the smallest racecourse of significance in England at 1 mile and 1 furlong”, a flat, left-handed circuit just over a mile round. Newton Abbot is a similar size: Wikipedia calls it “a tight, flat left-handed oval of about 1 mile 1 furlong”.

Small doesn’t mean quiet. Cartmel in Cumbria is usually described as small, yet Wikipedia notes that it often has the third-highest average attendance of any jumps track in Britain, after Aintree and Cheltenham.

Who Owns Britain’s Racecourses?

Three groups account for most of the 59.

The Jockey Club

The Jockey Club’s own site lists 14 racecourses: Aintree, Carlisle, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs, Exeter, Haydock Park, Huntingdon, Kempton Park, Market Rasen, Newmarket, Nottingham, Sandown Park, Warwick and Wincanton. It says it welcomes “around four million people a year” to them.

Arena Racing Company

ARC’s guide counts 16 courses. Its racecourses page now lists 17, adding Chelmsford City after the July 2026 agreement: Bath, Brighton, Chelmsford City, Chepstow, Doncaster, Ffos Las, Fontwell Park, Great Yarmouth, Hereford, Lingfield Park, Newcastle, Sedgefield, Southwell, Uttoxeter, Windsor, Wolverhampton and Worcester. Some of those it runs rather than owns: Wikipedia lists Hereford as owned by Herefordshire Council, and Worcester as owned by Worcester City Council and leased to ARC.

The independents

The rest are run independently, including Ascot, Goodwood, York and Newbury. A few have unusual owners: the Chester Race Company owns both Chester and Bangor-on-Dee, and Musselburgh is run by a joint racing committee.

Course Features That Matter for Betting

No two British courses are the same shape, and that is one reason form at one track doesn’t always carry over to another. Our guide to reading horse racing form shows where course and distance wins appear on a racecard.

Left-handed or right-handed

ARC’s guide notes that at many UK racecourses the runners race left-handed, anti-clockwise, but that at several they race right-handed. Some horses handle one direction better than the other. Examples from Wikipedia: York and Doncaster are left-handed; Goodwood has a tight right-handed loop; Kempton’s all-weather track is a right-handed oval while Chelmsford’s is left-handed.

Undulating, tight or galloping

Epsom is not a circuit at all but roughly U-shaped, with a climb and then a downhill left turn at Tattenham Corner. Goodwood’s loop has “severe undulations and sharp turns”, and Hexham finishes up a steep climb. At the other end, Doncaster is described as a flat, galloping track of nearly two miles round, and Wolverhampton’s home straight is only two furlongs long.

Straight courses and the draw

Some courses run sprints and mile races on a straight track: Ascot’s straight mile hosts the Queen Anne Stakes, Newmarket’s Rowley Mile has a straight of a mile and a quarter, and York has a straight six furlongs. On the Flat, horses start from numbered stalls, and on tight tracks or with wide fields one side or one end of the stalls can be favoured on certain going. That is called draw bias. It changes from meeting to meeting, so it is worth checking the stall positions on the racecard rather than assuming.

Why Field Size Changes the Place Terms

Course size has a direct effect on your bets through field size. Big, wide tracks take big fields, and the standard UK each way terms pay more places as the number of runners grows (our each way bet guide has the full table).

Worked example: one non-runner

You take £5 each way at 10/1 (£10 staked) in an eight-runner non-handicap, paying 1/5 the odds for three places. The place odds are 10/1 x 1/5 = 2/1.

• Your horse finishes third with eight runners. The win half loses. The place half pays £5 x 2 = £10 plus the £5 stake, so £15 back. Profit: £5.
• One horse is withdrawn, so seven run. The terms drop to two places at 1/4. Third now loses both halves: you’re £10 down.
• With seven runners, your horse finishes second. The place odds become 10/1 x 1/4 = 5/2. Return £5 x 2.5 = £12.50 plus £5, so £17.50. Profit: £7.50.

Big-field handicaps

In a handicap of 16 or more runners, the usual terms are four places at 1/4. £5 each way at 20/1 that finishes fourth returns £5 x 5 = £25 plus £5, so £30, a £20 profit on a £10 stake. In a 15-runner handicap, fourth pays nothing. Late withdrawals can also bring a Rule 4 deduction, and you can run any of these sums through our each way calculator.

Update Log

• 2 October 2026: Page published with the 59 British racecourses from Wikipedia’s current list, checked against the BHA and Great British Racing, and Chelmsford City’s licence position as reported up to 10 September 2026. We will update it when a course closes, reopens or changes hands, and when Chelmsford racing resumes.

Frequently asked questions

How many UK racecourses are there?

Great Britain has 59 licensed racecourses: 51 in England, five in Scotland and three in Wales. Add Down Royal and Downpatrick in Northern Ireland and the UK total is 61, but those two race under Horse Racing Ireland, so the BHA count stays at 59.

What is the smallest racecourse in Britain?

Chester is the usual answer. Its left-handed circuit on the Roodee is only about a mile and a furlong round, and Wikipedia calls it the smallest racecourse of significance in England. Newton Abbot in Devon is a similarly tight oval, used for jumps racing.

What is the oldest racecourse in Britain?

Chester, where racing on the Roodee dates from 1539. Guinness World Records recognises it as the oldest racecourse still in operation. Salisbury, from 1584, and Doncaster, with races recorded by 1595, are the next oldest in Wikipedia's list.

Is Kempton Park Racecourse closing down?

Not on current plans. The Jockey Club proposed closing it for housing in 2017, but in February 2020 it scaled the scheme down to up to 550 homes, which the Racing Post reported would let jumps and all-weather racing continue.

Which racecourse has a straight mile?

Ascot is the best-known example: Royal Ascot opens with the Queen Anne Stakes over its straight mile. Newmarket has two, the July Course's straight mile, known as the Bunbury Mile, and the Rowley Mile, whose straight is a mile and a quarter.

What is the largest racecourse in the UK?

Newmarket is generally named the biggest. It has two separate courses and can take fields of up to 35 in the Cambridgeshire and Cesarewitch. Measured by crowd, Cheltenham holds 67,500, and Ascot offers the most prize money per meeting.