Record £250k race day at Market Rasen Racecourse with Ella Henderson and James Arthur and beer festival to follow for centenary celebrations
Lincolnshire has a long association with horseracing and this year marks a milestone for Market Rasen Racecourse, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
The National Hunt course has been commemorating the historic occasion in style with Easter weekend racing, the renaming of one of its bars to Centenary Bar, artwork competitions for primary and secondary schools and business awards.
General manager Jack Pryor said there’s also been a centenary collection display – made up of artefacts including racecards and a set of old weighing room scales – which went on show earlier this year to give people an insight into the venue’s past.
Looking ahead Jack says there is plenty more to come with the Summer Plate Ladies Day today (Saturday, July 20) when there will be a racecard worth £250,000 – the highest ever for a race day at the course, while the featured Summer Plate race has a top prize of £100,000.
The venue is set to host Ella Henderson and James Arthur in concert on August 17, and on September 28 there will be a beer festival, where visitors can sample a special Centenary beer brewed by Ferry Ales Brewing.
Those who have purchased a hospitality package will also be in with a chance of winning a special experience at the course next year.
“Market Rasen Racecourse is such a special place; it’s an important part of racing history and we hope we’ve done it proud in this centenary year!
“It’s been wonderful celebrating with the community. One funny incident happened though, just before the Easter weekend we were contacted by a man who told us if racegoers presented their racecard from the 75th anniversary for the 100th they could get in free.
“This was the first I’d heard of it – the people who were here 25 years ago had left us this nice little nugget. This gentlemen turned up with his race card from that anniversary and we honoured it! I couldn’t believe that he’d kept it all this time!”
Market Rasen has a long association with horseracing, with events running on sites on the outskirts of the town between 1828 and 1924. Feast week racing was traditionally held in the autumn between 1828 and 1887, and with the advent of steeplechasing in the mid-19th Century another fixture was added to the calendar in spring. A permanent home was found for Market Rasen Racecourse at Willingham Road in 1924.
Although racing was suspended during the Second World War it proved popular when it returned – with Easter Monday becoming a long-standing fixture.
“1946 saw a record crowd of 18,000 in attendance,” adds Jack, “I don’t think safety was quite the priority then. Our capacity today is 15,000 – so for back then that was a huge number of spectators!”
Victor Lucas – son-in-law of James Henry Nettleship, who was partly responsible for buying the land in Willingham Road – ran the course from 1945 until his death in 1971.
“Victor had a long-running association with the course and played an integral part in delivering the course and facilities,” adds Jack.
He ensured the course could be seen from all enclosures, moved the parade ring to a position next to the track and accessible to all racegoers and promoted racing as a family day out. He also expanded the fixture list from three meetings a year to 12.
The course was sold to The Jockey Club in 1967 but the Lucas family has retained its strong links. Current chairman Sue Lucas – whose husband is Victor’s grandson - took up the role last year and is the fifth generation of the family to play a part in running the course.
“Another Lucas we’re incredibly grateful for is Jean, Victor’s daughter-in-law, who has catalogued all the history and written a couple of books about the racecourse and its history, without her we wouldn’t have all this amazing information about what has happened over the years, especially pre-1975,” adds Jack.
The course has a long history of producing good horses too, with famous runners including Red Rum, who won over the hurdles in 1968, Night Nurse and double Grand National winner Tiger Roll.
“It’s incredible to think the course has been here 100 years, we’ve had some amazing support throughout that time and this year,” adds Jack.
“We just want to encourage people to come back and have a great day!
“We’re still working on our grand finale for Boxing Day, that’s all still in the pipeline, but we’re hoping to end the season with bang!’”
* For more information about the course and forthcoming events visit thejockeyclub.co.uk/marketrasen
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