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York Racecourse Named RCA Showcase Champion Racecourse for 2024

• York crowned RCA Showcase Champion Racecourse.
• Carlisle named Groundstaff Champions in Racecourse Groundstaff Awards.
• Jockey Club Racecourses & Gallagher honoured for community engagement partnership.
• RCA brings together British racing to celebrate racecourse excellence & innovation with insightful conference and gala awards ceremony.

York Racecourse has been crowned the Showcase Champion Racecourse at the 13^th annual RCA Showcase Awards.

At the gala ceremony held at Edinburgh’s Signet Library, York became just the third racecourse to hold the accolade of being a multiple Champion alongside Ascot and Aintree.

Centred around the new Bustardthorpe Development, the independent judging panel for the Showcase Awards were suitably wowed by the excellence and innovation on show at York throughout the 2024 season, with the Knavesmire team winning both the Racing Connection and Racing Foundation Green Awards en route to being named Champion.

In winning the Racing Connection Award, York’s work in collaboration with Great British Racing (GBR) and the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) to present Under Jockeys’ Orders was celebrated as a significant step forward to help connect the racegoing public with jockeys. Under Jockeys’ Orders demonstrates the jockeys’ skill and dedication as elite athletes as well as the personalities behind the saddle, and added another fascinating element to the flagship 2024 Sky Bet Ebor Festival. 

The Bustardthorpe Development at York Racecourse is a major upgrade to the racegoing experience, and one that also significantly contributes to the environment with a green legacy at its core. The Racing Foundation Green Award was presented to York as a result. York’s win here opens a fast-track route to apply for up to £20k funding from the Racing Foundation to help with further environmental sustainability projects.

York Racecourse was also a Finalist in the Food & Beverage category and had already been named Flat Racecourse of the Year in the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, demonstrating a racecourse team operating at the highest level across all areas, delivering a season of fantastic experiences to thousands of racegoers and participants alike.

William Derby, Chief Executive & Clerk of the Course at York Racecourse, commented: “I am hugely proud to be part of the team at York Racecourse and to be named Champion Racecourse for a second time. It is an honour and privilege to receive this honour amongst friends and colleagues in British racing.

The RCA Showcase is a wonderful initiative which York has supported since its inception. It is vital that we continue to promote the positive work done across British racecourses and I was thrilled to see the other fine work of racecourses celebrated tonight.”

230 guests attended the sold out 2024 Showcase Awards held at Edinburgh’s Signet Library on behalf of 2023 Champions Musselburgh. Hosts Rishi Persad and world record-holding rower Taylor Winyard led the celebration of the best of British racecourses in 2024, with 13 awards presented plus three Highly Commended accolades. The event is presented by the RCA and partnered by Great British Racing, Racing Together, the Racing Foundation and Racing Post. 

Alongside York’s overall success, it was a fantastic night for Yorkshire Racing overall.

Ripon Racecourse claimed the Raceday Award for the Gold Medal Family Day, a superb event which utilised a new fixture slot to capture the summer of sport and delight racegoers of all ages without interrupting the already-popular series of family days planned. Chester Racecourse was presented with a Highly Commended accolade in this category for their excellent Oktoberfest raceday.

The Pontefract Racecourse team continued their series of Showcase successes by winning the Diversity & Inclusion Award. Pontefract’s sport-leading Autism-friendly racedays, offered at every raceday in collaboration with Future Ticketing and Autism in Racing, have seen Pontefract become the first and only racecourse to be accredited by the National Autistic Society.

Beverley Racecourse’s collaboration with Longcroft High School saw the East Yorkshire track honoured with the Non-Raceday Event Award. The racecourse welcomed GCSE students for a series of stress-busting activities in the great outdoors, all the while allowing these prospective racegoers to engage with the racecourse and sport of horseracing.

Go Racing In Yorkshire co-ordinated a groundbreaking bowel cancer awareness and screening programme across the county, and as such were the winners of the Racing Together Community Award. By winning this award, the Go Racing In Yorkshire team will now work with the RCA and Racing Together to produce a video summary of their winning initiative to further showcase the initiative to wider audiences.

Recognising further excellence in this category, RCA Chair Wilf Walsh honoured The Jockey Club for their pioneering partnership with Gallagher with the Chairman’s Award. Since 2023, The Jockey Club and Gallagher’s partnership was the first of its kind in British racing, and continues to lead the way as an exemplar for others to follow in how to utilise community engagement to benefit all connected parties.

The two public-voted Showcase Awards received record entries in 2024 with racegoers and owners keen to have their say. The Racing Post Readers’ Award celebrates customer service and value for money and was won by Kelso Racecourse, whilst The Racehorse Owners’ Racecourse of the Year, in collaboration with the ROA, was won by Ascot Racecourse. The Berkshire track also won a Highly Commended accolade in the Marketing category for the Royal Ascot: Elevating the Ascot You campaign.

Chelmsford City Racecourse celebrated a strong year with victory in the Marketing Award thanks to the Pick A Winner initiative. This saw pop-up stations across Essex promote the racecourse with interactive games which delighted racegoers and added valuable numbers to the racecourse database. Chelmsford City also received a Highly Commended accolade in the Racing Together Community Award for their Remembrance Raceday.

In the Food & Beverage Award, Perth Racecourse celebrated their new stand refurbishment which saw an overhaul of food and drink options across all levels of the racecourse. The judges were particularly impressed with the local-first approach, which notably has seen a decrease in antisocial behaviour due to the lower ABV Tennents now being served.

In the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, Aintree (jump), Carlistle (dual purpose) and York (flat) had already been named winners in their respective categories. Carlisle Racecourse was crowned the Groundstaff Champion, with the judges commenting on the superb team spirit amongst the groundstaff and exquisite turf produced throughout the year.

RCA Chair, Wilf Walsh, commented: “Congratulations to William Derby and the York Racecourse team on being named our 2024 Champion Racecourse. York provides a unique, top-quality race going experience to its visitors and the course always performs at an extremely high level, setting exceptional standards. Being named a multiple Champion Racecourse is rare, with York being only the third racecourse to achieve this accolade.

“Racecourse teams across the country work exceptionally hard to deliver fantastic days out. All our Showcase winners and highly commended are quite rightly celebrated and the RCA looks forward to sharing the best-in-class practice acclaimed at the Showcase Awards in the months ahead.”

The complete results from the 2024 Showcase Awards are as follows:

Showcase Champion Racecourse

WINNER: York

Racecourse Groundstaff Awards—Overall Champion

WINNER: Carlisle

Chairman’s Award

WINNER: The Jockey Club—Gallagher Community Partnership

Marketing

WINNER: Chelmsford City—Pick a Winner

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Ascot—Royal Ascot 2024: Elevating the Ascot You

Doncaster—The Summer Series

Musselburgh—Egging on the Favourite

Plumpton—Premier Plumpton: Sussex National Raceday

Racing Foundation Green

WINNER: York— The Bustardthorpe Stand Development x Green Knavesmire 300

Carlisle—Carlisle Garden Project

Pontefract—Sustainable Music Nights

The Jockey Club—Natural Capital

Wincanton—The Final Bend Busy Bee Apiary

Diversity & Inclusion

WINNER: Pontefract—The Journey to Being a Friendly Racecourse

Ascot—Championing Women in Sport

Carlisle—Ladies Night

Goodwood—Markel Magnolia Cup x Riding A Dream Academy

Ripon—Accessibility for All

Racing Together Community

WINNER: Go Racing In Yorkshire—Bowel Cancer Screening

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Chelmsford City—Remembrance Raceday

Royal Windsor—Supporting Ovarian Cancer Raceday

Sandown Park—Supporting Our Local Families

The Jockey Club—Gallagher Community Partnership

Raceday

WINNER: Ripon—Gold Medal Family Day

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Chester—Oktoberfest

Chelmsford City—Good Friday Family Fun Day

Newbury—Al Shaqab Lockinge with Ladies’ Day

Warwick—Family Fun Day

Food & Beverage

WINNER: Perth—Old Stand Refurbishment

Cheltenham—The Feed Room

Chester—The Clubhouse

Epsom Downs—Cedric’s

York—Guinness is Good for You (and so is Theakstons and Fish & Chips)

Non-Raceday Event

WINNER: Beverley—Racing to Success

Bangor-on-Dee— Circuit Training for Fibrax Fenwicks Wrexham Cycling Club

Newcastle—Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival

Ripon—Yorkshire’s Garden Film Set

Wincanton—Wincanton Rocks Together

Racing Connection

WINNER: York—Under Jockeys’ Orders

Cheltenham—Gold Cup 100

Goodwood—Racehorse Welfare

Haydock Park—JockeyCam Live at Betfair Chase Day

Wincanton—Frodon’s Friends

Racing Post Readers’ Award

WINNER: Kelso

Ayr

Chester

Musselburgh

Salisbury

Owners’ Racecourse of the Year

WINNER: Ascot

Hamilton Park

Musselburgh

Newbury

Perth

About the Showcase & Awards

This is the thirteenth annual Showcase Seminar & Awards, the marquee event of the Racecourse Association (RCA) to celebrate excellence and innovation amongst British Racecourses in partnership with Great British Racing, Racing Post, the Racing Foundation and Racing Together.

It is renowned as the event to attend, learn from, engage with, support and celebrate racecourses. The daytime seminar and evening awards ceremony are both guided by the principle themes of excellence and innovation, which we encourage all racecourses to apply to every element of racecourse operation and raceday experience.

This year’s event was held on Thursday 7^th November at the Signet Library, Edinburgh.

The independent judging panel this year was comprised of Tara Warren (Executive Director, West Ham United and BHA Board Director), Martin Dalby (Chairman, Center Parcs UK & IRE), David Carr (Racing Reporter, Racing Post), Louise Norman (Chief Executive, Racehorse Owners Association) and Aileen Goatley (Head of Marketing, Horse Racing Ireland).

There are eight core Showcase Award categories and two public-voted Awards. The Racing Post Readers’ Award Racegoers invites racegoers to nominate their favourite racecourse and score out of 100 on customer service, value for money and overall raceday experience. The racecourse with the highest combined average score, subject to a minimum number of votes, will be crowned the winner. The Owners’ Racecourse of the Year asks all racehorse owners to nominate and score based on ownership experience with and without a runner plus the raceday experience.

The Showcase Champion is decided by the highest combined score from all core entries (barring Racing Post Readers’ Award and RCA/ROA Owners’ Racecourse of the Year). To qualify, racecourses must be nominated as a Finalist in at least two core categories.

Previous Champion Racecourses: Doncaster (2011), Goodwood (2012), Chester (2013), Ascot (2014 & 2016), York (2015), Aintree (2017 & 2022), Hamilton Park (2018), Pontefract (2019) and Musselburgh (2023).

About the Racecourse Association

The Racecourse Association (RCA), formed in 1907, is the representative body for British racecourses. 59 racecourses are members and have equal voting rights. The RCA serves the interests of its 59 British racecourse members both inside and outside the sport, empowering them to be the best venues that they can be.

The RCA works on behalf of racecourses to represent their views within the sport. Outside of horseracing, the RCA works alongside the Government, other sports and leisure venues, and national charities to meet the needs of racecourses.

Additionally, the RCA encourages and facilitates racecourse community engagement, involvement in horse welfare initiatives, responsible drinking campaigns, and various other partnerships within the sport. The Showcase & Awards, the marquee event of British Racecourses to celebrate and reward excellence and innovation, is hosted by the RCA annually in November.

Since 1998, the RCA has owned RaceTech, the dedicated technical facilities provider that has maintained British Racing at the forefront of global broadcast technology.

For further information, please contact Paul Swain.

Go Racing in Yorkshire Guest Blog – Charlotte Russell, General Manager at GRIY

Go Racing In Yorkshire Season Ticket

A phrase that often comes up in conversation at this time of year is,

“So you’ll be getting quieter as the flat season comes to an end?”

Well, actually, no! And that is also true of the flat courses!  For us at Go Racing In Yorkshire HQ, we still have three courses jump racing, with 36 jump fixtures between them, but our main focus right now is getting everything ready for Season Ticket renewals and sales.

If you are a keen racing fan and haven’t heard of the season ticket then read on!  If you are already a season ticket holder, look out for the correspondence inviting you to renew.

The Go Racing In Yorkshire season ticket has been around for 45 years, that’s about half the amount of time that Mr Gundill has been running Pontefract Racecourse! 

Recognising that there are enthusiastic and passionate racegoers in the county, the season ticket was created to offer a value for money day out to these loyal supporters of our wonderful sport.

While the name (it was originally called a passport) and delivery has changed over the years, the core concept remains the same, but it’s more than just a day at the races.

The season ticket offers Grandstand & Paddock admission at every fixture at Yorkshire’s nine racecourses, that’s about 182 race meetings.  Yes, that includes Grandstand & Paddock at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival and the Betfred St Leger meeting.

Other tangible benefits include reciprocals with Yorkshire County Cricket Club, hospitality discounts at some of the courses and the option to upgrade on the day if space allows.

Trialled in 2023 and extended in 2024, we have held some ‘club days’, including at Pontefract in September.  This brings together those season ticket holders who would like to meet up with others in a racecourse facility, with tea and coffee in abundance!  At Pontefract, raceday announcer Andrew Thornton ran us through the card and although we got off to a fairly bleak start, he did produce a couple of winners as the day went on!

At some of these club days and on some other occasions, we have been able to offer season ticket holders the opportunity to get into the Parade Ring and choose the best turned out horse and make the presentation to winning connections after the race.  This is real ‘bucket list’ stuff for some, who take the responsibility very seriously and take time to enjoy the privilege of being that bit closer to the horses with a little more space to see.

Another new initiative is a WhatsApp group – absolutely not compulsory, but set up with the aim of connecting racegoers who tend to turn up on their own but want to meet up with others on arrival and compare notes on the days runners.

A season ticket holder is fairly obvious to spot – if you see the same face every time you visit a Yorkshire course and it’s not a trainer or a jockey, then it’s probably a season ticket holder and if they’re not then they certainly should be!

The benefits of being a season ticket holder can’t all be listed on the website as some of them can’t be quantified, but going racing and seeing our band of merry men and women, I can tell you what they are.  In short, racing is good for you!

Most of our demographic are retired – in general they’re the only people available to turn up at every weekday fixture.  With time on their hands and an active brain, a day out at the races keeps the faculties working.  A season ticket means that no planning is required, simply turn up, get the badge scanned and in you go.  If you can’t get there for the first, or need to leave before the last, you’re still getting value for money.

We all know it’s good for us to get outside, whatever the weather and racing offers just that.  The season ticket holders tend to know who each other are and look out for each other.  If someone is conspicuous by their absence you can guarantee that enquiries into their wellbeing will be made. 

I’ve had instances where someone had decided not to renew as they no longer drive, only to receive a phone call a week later to say they are changing their mind because their neighbouring season ticket holder is going to give them lifts.  There is a strong community spirit and new season ticket holders will be welcomed straight away.

In general, they are more traditional racegoers, in attendance for the love of the horse and the sport and I have been fortunate enough to witness first-hand the support of this enthusiastic sector of our racing community when I rode in the charity race at York.  From sponsorship, encouraging texts and emails right down to riding instructions, they were with me to the finishing line and casual chats on-course are often the highlight of my day, although I wouldn’t necessarily tell them all that!

The season ticket runs from 1^st April to 31^st March each year.  Applications need to be in by the end of February and a personalised photo ID card will be sent out prior to the 1^st April, which just needs scanning at the racecourse entrance.  A single ticket for 2025/26 will be £460 and even more value is offered with a joint ticket which will cost £770.

While this represents excellent value – about £2.53 per race meeting, it can be a lot of money to find at once, so, new for 2025, we are aiming to introduce an option which allows both new and returning season ticket holders to spread the payments.  More information will be available on our website soon.

Tickets can be purchased online, from our website or by sending a cheque with the relevant details.  Please email me if you would like more information or to discuss the season ticket and how to make a purchase.  We are conscious that while we live in an increasingly technological world, not all of our season ticket holders, existing and new, are au fait with this and we want to make sure that everyone who wants one, can get a season ticket, so if you are struggling, get in touch and we can make a plan.

Blog – 11^th October

Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.

Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):

• Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
• Accounts Manager, Nicola,
• Admin manager, Carol,
• Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
• Chief Operating Officer, Richard who is writing this blog

We are preparing to close the door on another racing season, but we have one final fling to bring you on Monday 21^st October. And yes, while there’s some top notch racing on the programme – we have a Listed 2yo race (which even has it’s own Wikipedia page!) and over £130,000 worth of Prize Money on offer – we’re going to have a look at another of our Season Finale traditions at Ponte. The handover to the National Hunt team….

Racing under both codes (Flat and National Hunt) has a big following in Yorkshire and, as the Flat season is nearing its end, it’s always lovely to be able to welcome back some firm favourites from the jumping season.  The team from Go Racing in Yorkshire are always particularly excited to get their cameras and notebooks out in preparation for the start of the ‘Winter Game’. And our Admin team get involved too – Caroline drives the car that follows the gallopers round and Alexia fires up the Socials with the latest news.

Pontefract used to offer trainers the opportunity to ‘gallop’ their horses regularly after racedays. But, as weather patterns continue to become increasingly extreme, we had to restrict racecourse gallops to the last raceday so that the track had a good few months to recover before it was needed again the following April. Initially we’d have 5 or 6 horses coming to stretch their legs but the word started to spread and trainers latched on to the fact that we allowed gallopers and the event started to take off. In 2021, we had over 50 horses using the track after the last race. This is after 70-80 horses ran during the race meeting! As demand grew, we’ve had to restrict numbers to allow no more than 40 horses to gallop after racing – with each trainer restricted to 5 horses so that we can allow as many different yards as possible to take advantage.

While some tracks charge for racecourse gallops, we took a different view and don’t have a fee. Allowing a racecourse gallop was one way that we could thank trainers for running a horse during the course of the year – especially those who might not ordinarily have had a runner during the season. If the trainer wants to make a donation to the groundstaff team, then that is always gratefully received!

And we’ve had some real superstars of the Northern jumping circuit grace the Ponte turf. Nicky Richards always brings some nice horses with G2 and Listed placed, Castle Rushen a regular. Brian Ellison’s Tommy Whittle and Eider winner, Sam’s Adventure, learnt his stamina from an away day at Ponte. Perhaps the best of them was Ruth Jefferson’s Waiting Patiently who limbered up at Ponte before his second in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day.

So, to 2024…. We’ve already got 30 horses booked in with limited spaces remaining. Nicky Richards, Donald McCain and Sam England are amongst those who have already got their names down.  Which equine stars will be making an appearance? You’ll have to join us on Monday 21^st October when all will be revealed!

Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.

Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):

• Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
• Accounts Manager, Nicola,
• Admin manager, Carol,
• Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
• Chief Operating Officer, Richard, who is writing this blog.

As the busy Summer period of racing comes to a close, we start to gear up to the final four meetings of the year. While the evenings and weekend fixtures are done for 2024, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a lot to look forward to – in fact, there is still a 2yo Listed race to come and almost £350,000 worth of prize money on offer!

The highlight of the Autumn programme is our season finale on Monday 21^st October. Sadly, Storm Babet prevented the fixture taking place in 2023 but, all being well, we’ll have some fantastic action on the track to finish the season.

Apologies for being a bit of a racing anorak, but the EBF Silver Tankard Stakes is one of my favourite races of the year at Ponte and has a rich history with both Westover and Manuela De Vega in recent years competing before hitting the frame in the Derby and Oaks the following year. The European Breeders Fund do a huge amount for racing and we are eternally grateful for the support that they give us a Ponte. It’s been a while since we’ve had a Derby or Oaks winner – High-Rise was the last – but there’s always some talent on show. Before the abandonment last year, Aidan O’Brien had 5 entries to target the race with! Fingers crossed the weather plays its part this year and we get to witness some more potential future stars.

We’ve made a conscious decision to try and raise the calibre and profile of the racing at the season finale this year. And so, to support the Listed race, we have a Class 2 Fillies Handicap worth £30k and the £27k Class 2 Phil Bull Trophy for the Stayers. There’s now a total of over £130,000 in prize money at this race meeting alone. The two supporting races have again had some superb winners – Unequal Love won the handicap in 2023 before winning the Wokingham this year, and Wise Eagle was the last horse to take the Phil Bull. He ran in the Ascot Gold Cup the year after! For those of you who don’t know, Phil Bull was a professional gambler, racehorse owners and published who founded Timeform.

We can now also start to look forward to 2025. The fixture list has recently been published and there is no material change to the look of the Ponte racing calendar for next year with our usual pattern of fixtures including 3 evening meetings (Friday 23^rd May, Monday 9^th June and Friday 18^th July), 3 Sundays (22^nd June, 27^th July, 17^th August) and Ladies Day on 6^th August. Bookings for next year will go live on 1^st December when, as always, the best deals are available. Make sure you set a reminder on your calendar as tickets are over 25% cheaper than on the day.

Now that we have the dates for 2025, we can also start to plan! Is there anything that you’d like to see at Pontefract next year? Do you have any thoughts on the bands that might perform? (within reason – we’re a small independent racecourse with limited budgets!) Would you like to see anything different at our Family Day race meetings? If you’ve got anything that you think might make a day at Pontefract even better, then please let us know by emailing us at info@pontefract-races.co.uk.

Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.

Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):

• Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
• Accounts Manager, Nicola,
• Admin manager, Carol,
• Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
• Chief Operating Officer, Richard who is writing today’s blog,

Racedays at Pontefract Racecourse is accredited as a
National Autistic Society’s ‘Autism Friendly Venue’

Pontefract Racecourse has become the first and only Racecourse in the country to have it’s Racedays accredited by the National Autistic Society as ‘Autism Friendly’.

Earlier in the year, the Racecourse announced that they would be working with Autism in Racing, a not for profit Community Interest Company, to ensure that they were the first Racecourse in the country to host Autism in Racing Racedays on every day, and their continued commitment to making the Racedays fully accessible to autistic racegoers has secured them the National Autistic Society’s Autism Friendly award.

Bobby Beevers, Chair and Founder of Autism in Racing is delighted that the Racecourse has been recognised by the NAS:

“This is fantastic news and a brilliant achievement for the whole team at Pontefract who have continued to make such huge strides to ensure that racing there is as accessible as possible.’

Jo Pointer, Customer Relations Officer for the National Autistic Society said:

‘Congratulations on achieving this award and the commitment to making your service accessible to autistic people. Your application confirms that you meet the expected standards to achieve the Autism Friendly Award. You are doing a considerable amount to make Pontefract Racecourse autism friendly for autistic people, particularly with the combination of sensory room and quiet room as well as using autistic employees to provide a form of peer support.  We look forward to working with Pontefract in the future.’

Richard Hammill, Chief Operating Officer for Pontefract Racecourse said:

‘We are absolutely delighted that our Racedays have been given the National Autistic Society’s accreditation for an Autism Friendly venue. Raising awareness of Autism and playing our part in enabling the Racing Industry to be more inclusive is hugely important to us all at Pontefract. We look forward to continuing to provide an accessible venue for all customers and welcoming autistic racegoers and their families.’

The Racecourse has been working in conjunction with their ticketing provider, Future Ticketing, who have provided valuable funding to enable the initiative to take place every day. 

Hammill continued:

‘We could not have achieved this accreditation without the help of Future Ticketing. Their support is invaluable and we are hugely grateful to them to partner with us on this project.’

Ann Marie Guinan, Chief Marketing Officer of Future Ticketing, was excited that Future Ticketing could be part of the venture:

‘Future Ticketing are extremely proud to work with Pontefract Races on this project. Racing is an inclusive and accessible sport and we are delighted that we can enable further attendance and an Autism friendly experience to racegoers at Ponte.’

As part of their Autism Friendly racedays, the Racecourse and Future Ticketing provide designated quiet and safe spaces for autistic Racegoers, with complimentary soft drinks and biscuits. In addition, there is a dedicated sensory room, provided by Immersive, at every race meeting. At selected race meetings, there is also an art workshop hosted by autistic artist, James Owen Thomas.

William Buick, champion jockey and Ambassador for Autism in Racing said:

“I congratulate Pontefract for their commitment to Autism Friendly racedays. My family has first hand experience of autism and as an Ambassador for Autism in Racing I welcome the way racecourses are embracing the concept.”

Any racegoers wishing to apply for places at any Autism in Racing fixture should visit the Autism in Racing website at https://www.autisminracing.com/ .

For more information on Pontefract Racecourse, please visit www.pontefract-races.co.uk

To discover services offered by Future Ticketing, please visit https://www.futureticketing.com/

Autism in Racing have a brand new website. To discover more, please visit https://www.autisminracing.com/  

To watch the video on Autism in Racing racedays at Pontefract, please visit https://vimeo.com/932439790/caa45b5195?share=copy

Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.

Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):

• Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
• Accounts Manager, Nicola,
• Admin manager, Carol,
• Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
• Chief Operating Officer, Richard who is writing today’s blog,

Prince of Wales Hospice welcomes New Beginnings racehorses

The Prince of Wales Hospice in Pontefract welcomed some very special guests the other morning when two former Racehorses visited staff and patients.

Nearly Caught and Goldream, known affectionately as Nico and Remy, were equine stars when they were in training but have their retirement home with New Beginnings. New Beginnings horses, based just outside York, are a charity who provide a safe and secure environment for former racehorses, where they can adjust and be re-trained for their second career following racing.

The two ex-racers are familiar faces on the Yorkshire Racecourses with Goldream the equine ambassador at York, while Nearly Caught is the Pontefract counterpart. At the beginning of the year, Pontefract Racecourse launched their ‘Twelve Months of Giving’ for New Beginnings Horses. The campaign sees a variety of fundraising activity for New Beginnings taking place in every month in 2024 with the visit to the Prince of Wales Hospice forming part of the campaign in July.

Following the visit to the Prince of Wales Hospice, Richard Hammill, Chief Operating Officer for Pontefract Racecourse, said:

‘We are delighted to be working with both the Prince of Wales Hospice and New Beginnings Horses. While we’ve been working New Beginnings for a number of years, we are delighted to have increased our activity with the Hospice and hope to continue supporting them for many years to come. It was wonderful to be able to take the horses to the Hospice and witness first hand the incredible effect that they had on staff and patients alike.’

Pam and Kevin Atkinson of New Beginnings said:

‘We have been taking the horses to meet the racegoers at Pontefract for over 10 years and we really enjoy working with the whole team there. It was an honour to be able to take them to see a new audience at the Prince of Wales Hospice and for the patients there to be to interact with our wonderful horses. We see daily the powerful impact racehorses have on people lives and we are delighted to be partnering with Pontefract Racecourse and the Prince of Wales Hospice on this initiative so more people can experience and learn what horses do for people, and people for horses.’

Jo Dunford, the Wellbeing Lead at the Hospice, said: “We were delighted to welcome Nico and Remy to the Hospice. It was truly heartwarming to witness our patients’ faces light up as they fed polos and carrots to the beautiful horses, and it was a reminder of the huge impact animal therapy can have on well-being and emotional health. We are very grateful to New Beginnings for their visit, and we hope to see them again so that more special memories can be created.”

For more information on the Prince of Wales Hospice, or to donate to help them continue to provide specialist care please visit https://www.pwh.org.uk/

For more information on New Beginnings Horses, or to donate to help them to enable these visits, please visit https://nbhorses.org.uk/

For more information on Pontefract Racecourse and the Twelve Months of Giving, please visit www.pontefract-races.co.uk

First Sponsorship for bettingsites.co.uk at Pontefract Racecourse

On the 1st of July, Pontefract Racecourse was pleased to welcome the newly relaunched bettingsites.co.uk for their first sponsored event. This exciting collaboration marks the beginning of a long-term partnership aimed at promoting safe and secure horseracing betting across the UK.

Bettingsites.co.uk has established itself as a reliable platform for horseracing enthusiasts, providing a secure environment for betting. Pontefract Racecourse’s sponsorship aligns with its commitment to fostering a responsible betting culture.

Leon Hughes from bettingsites.co.uk commented, “We are thrilled to partner with Pontefract Racecourse. Our goal is to offer a safe and enjoyable betting experience to horseracing fans, and this partnership allows us to reach a broader audience.”

Richard Hammill, Chief Operating Officer at Pontefract Racecourse, also shared his thoughts on the collaboration: “It’s wonderful to welcome a new sponsor to Pontefract and we’re delighted to welcome the team from bettingsites.co.uk . We would like to thank them for their support of Pontefract and look forward to working with the team for many years to come. ” This sponsorship marks the start of a promising relationship between bettingsites.co.uk and Pontefract Racecourse, highlighting a shared commitment to enhancing the horse racing betting experience for fans across the UK.

Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.

Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):

• Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
• Accounts Manager, Nicola,
• Admin manager, Carol, who is writing this blog,
• Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
• Chief Operating Officer, Richard.

Today has been Freebie Friday for me today.

This week I have been doing work with various charities.

We really enjoy working with the local community and local charities and try to get as involved as we can so that Pontefract Racecourse is truly imbedded within the surrounding areas.

Sometimes, things happen which make it really easy to facilitate community work. For example, we had a lovely lady who telephoned to say she could no longer come to the race meeting on Tuesday 9^th July. She had premier badges and had booked a meal in the Premier Restaurant.  She asked me if I knew of any charities who could use the tickets and meal.  I got in touch with the Prince of Wales Hospice who raffled the tickets to help them with their fund raising.  We would like to say a huge thank you to the lady who made the donation.

We always give a number of tickets away today to local care homes or those who are part of assisted living schemes. We try to offer assistance to a different group at every raceday so that we can make sure lots of different people get to experience a great day at the races. We allow one small party (up to 12 people) of care home residents to attend selected race meetings free of charge accompanied by their carer/personal assistant.

Earlier today, one such person visited us in the office to book tickets for their vulnerable residents. After checking our records, we’d no one booked in on the day that they wanted to come so we were able to offer them free tickets. The residents were so happy to get free tickets as they were expecting to pay – I’m going to hold them to their promise of them buying me an ice cream!

Anyone working at a venue likes ours will know just how many emails you get on a daily basis. We get inundated with email requests for tickets for charities who request tickets so that they can raffle or auction them to raise much needed funds.  We donate tickets to as many local charities as we can but sadly, we are not able to donate to them all.

Over the last few weeks, we have been able to donate tickets to a variety of charities that are not only local to us, but also across the country. These include:

MND
Yorkshire Air Ambulance
Cash 4 Kids
Macmillan Cancer Support

St James’ Hospital
Support Dogs

Dementia UK

Cancer Research

We’re also working closely with New Beginnings this year – you can read about this specific work in an earlier blog which you can read here.

On top of that, there are also bucket collections at the entrances both before and after racing. We find that people give a little bit more at the end of the day – especially if they’ve had a few winners, a couple of drinks and a good day out! We ask charities to book these days in advance and we allow one charity per race day to collect outside the gates.

If you’d like to know more, or would like to apply for tickets for a care home, or a bucket collection, please get in touch!

Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.

Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):

• Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
• Accounts Manager, Nicola,
• Admin manager, Carol,
• Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
• Chief Operating Officer, Richard who is writing this blog

Next week sees a really busy week in the Racing Calendar and the Ponte season.

As we start the countdown to the first of our Sunday Family Day meetings, the UK racing scene also celebrates Racing Staff Week – a celebration of Racing Staff throughout the industry which has been organised by Racing Welfare.

This year sees the eighth running of Racing Staff Week and the week will bring the racing industry and its followers together to showcase the passion, skill and dedication of all the staff, across the breadth of the industry, whose hard work makes our great sport possible. Racing Staff Week recognises the contribution of the industry’s entire workforce, from stud and stable staff to breeders, trainers, racecourse staff and administrators and everything in between. The campaign is is generously supported by Betfair.

85,000 people are either in direct, indirect or associated employment of British Racing and 2,468 people directly employed in the British racing industry were supported by Racing Welfare in 2023

Closer to home, we’ll be celebrating the Racing Staff who are helping us prepare for racing on Sunday 23^rd June. A huge amount of works goes in behind the scenes at the Racecourse, as well as a training yards up and down the country and trainers, stable staff and jockeys prepare their horses for a trip to Ponte.

Our groundsteam having been preparing the track after the first five race meetings of the season which have been run on ground softer than what might be expected. Since racing on Monday evening, the track has been put back, ‘filled in’, mown, spiked to assist with drainage and been sprayed for weed. On top of all that, they’ve also installed new running rail from the 6f start to the 2f marker. This not only means that horses running at Ponte on the 23^rd will have fresh ground, it also allows the ground on the inside running rail to have a rest and repair. This ‘false’ rail is likely to be in place until the end of July.  

The office team have also been busy making preparations for all the additional attractions that we will have on the site. Not only do we have 7 horse races, we also have 10 whippet races before the equine stars take to the track. There’s a funfair to sort out, a chance to meet some ex racehorses, bus trips to the start, a sensory room, a brass band and, of course, Yorkshire Pudding throwing. Add in putting together 500 packs for kids, it promises to be a busy week ahead.

Let’s hope that the weather starts to look a little more like Summer by the time we get to raceday and we can then enjoy a proper Ponte day out.   

Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.

Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):

• Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
• Accounts Manager, Nicola,
• Admin manager, Carol,
• Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
• Chief Operating Officer, Richard, who is writing today’s blog.

​The first evening fixture of the 2024 Pontefract Racecourse calendar took place last Friday night with a fantastic music night celebrating all things Abba.

A stellar crowd was out in force to see some exciting racing and then dance the night away with the superb Björn Again performing on stage.

Once the horses had safely left the course after the last race, racegoers flooded the Parade Ring in anticipation of Björn Again’s performance. There was a fantastic atmosphere with racegoers enjoying an evening to remember with one of the world’s most successful bands.

The Björn Again show was created and founded in 1988 in Melbourne by Australian director and musician Rod Stephen and has gone on to be hugely popular, the enduring appeal of Abba reflected in the ongoing success of the show, having amassed 5,600 performances in 72 countries in 32 years.

In addition this year the racecourse has introduced sustainable music nights, with Friday’s meeting being used to raise awareness on becoming more environmentally sustainable.

They called upon racegoers to help the efforts into making the music nights more sustainable, with two bike generators in use for spectators to pedal to generate electricity.

We also encouraged racegoers to car share and use of public transport to get to and from the races, raised awareness of energy saving devices by reminding people to switch off devices at home and encouraged racegoers to use the recycling points on site among other changes made.

There was some fantastic racing to kick off proceedings too. The feature race on the card was the £30,000 EBF Restricted Maiden and 16 two-year-olds took to the turf to strut their stuff.

What looked a competitive race on paper was turned into a procession by Tony Coyle and Kaine Wood’s newcomer Regal Gem.

David Nolan did the steering aboard the son of Zoustar and the writing was on the wall a long way from home.

The winner was well backed with Coyle confirming the high regard that Regal Gem was held in: “He was ready for the Brocklesby but the ground went against him so we made a plan to wait for the good prize money of this race and come here. We won’t be rushing him but he’s a really good type.”

There was a promising run in second for Charlie Johnston’s Expensive Rose, who flew up the home straight to grab the runner-up spot.

The other two year old race on the card was the Northern Commercials Fillies Novice and Hollie Doyle and Charlie Appleby teamed up with the exciting Enchanted Life.

Sent off a well backed favourite, punters did not have any anxious moments as Hollie steered the daughter of Kodiac to a 1¾ length success over Roger Varian’s Esprit Queen, who ran an eyecatching first race.

The opening race on the card celebrated the 50th birthday of Ponte regular Leigh Sutton. The 1m handicap was won in impressive fashion by Rebecca Menzies’ Million Thanks.

The winner had some excellent form earlier in his career and has been brought back to form by the Menzies team. Stretching clear under Oisin Orr, the winner will be turned out quickly under a penalty and is likely to go in again soon.

Gordon Grey had been knocking on the door in his recent runs, finishing runner-up on the last three occasions. Ben Brookhouse’s runner was well fancied to finally put his head in front and his front running tactics were deployed perfectly by Jack Gilligan on a course that can play to the strengths of horses who like to be close to the pace.

Brookhouse was determined to win the race sponsored by some of his owners and Gordon Grey played his part to perfection.

There was another all the way winner in the 1m2f handicap when Charlie Johnston’s Yippee made every post a winning one under Franny Norton.

The winner briefly looked in trouble as they turned into the home straight, but kept finding more for pressure before sprinting clear to win, eased down, by 2¾ lengths.

There was a sense of déjà vu to the finale as Ventura Express registered his fourth win at Pontefract, following up his victory in the corresponding race last year.

Paul Midgley’s charge loves the West Yorkshire air, holding the fast finishing Zarzyni by a head and giving David Nolan a double following his win on Regal Gem.

The next race meeting at the Yorkshire track is another evening fixture. The award winning Racing For Everyone Race Night, held on Monday, June 10, sees the track throwing its doors open to guests who may be looking to go racing for the first time.

With BSL signers on the big screen, an autism friendly sensory room, and a ‘trip down memory lane’ talk, there is plenty going on for everyone.