Newcastle Course Guide
Located at Gosforth Park to the north of the city, Newcastle Racecourse has staged racing since 1882 and hosts major races both on the flat and over jumps. Over the autumn and winter of 2015/16 the course will undergo an £11m redevelopment which will see a new all-weather surface replace the Flat turf track.
The highlight of Newcastle’s year is the Northumberland Plate meeting in June, a three-day fixture that also includes the Gosforth Park Cup and the Chipchase Stakes. Those races are both valuable sprints while the ‘Plate’ – also known as the Pitmens’ Derby – is a two-mile handicap and often billed as a Northern Hemisphere Melbourne Cup.
Over jumps Newcastle stages a Grade 1 contest in the shape of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle – a race which, along with the Christmas and Champion Hurdles forms a ‘Triple Crown’ of top two-mile hurdle races in the UK. Certainly, past winners of the Fighting Fifth are a who’s who of hurdling champions including Comedy Of Errors, Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon, Kribensis, Beech Road and Punjabi plus the aforementioned Overturn, who figures on the roll of honour for both of Gosforth Park’s famous races having won the ‘Plate’ in 2010 and the ‘Fighting Fifth’ the following year.


Left-handed, oval. Newcastle switched from turf to all-weather during the winter of 2015/16, and like Wolverhampton, the surface it uses is Tapeta. It differs from the majority of the all-weather tracks in that as well as a round course, it has a floodlit straight mile.
It’s a massive advantage to get anywhere near the fence in races on the round course at Newcastle, especially in an event like the Northumberland Plate, because the turns are long and, if you’re more than three or four deep, you’re forfeiting loads of ground. You need to be on a very good one to win from a wide berth. There’s a bit of a run off on the round track, too, where the ground tends to fall away from you quite steeply towards the initial bend. It’s a very fair track, though, beautiful to ride.


Left handed, galloping with a steady uphill rise from the home turn. Stiff nature often results in steadily-run affairs, especially on the hurdles course, many races really beginning in earnest only once in line for home. As such, races often fail to represent the test of stamina they might, whilst this probably also explains a lower-than-expected casualty rate over fences. A position towards the stand rail can be an advantage in the home straight, and it's no coincidence that's where the senior northern jockeys usually head.
I’ve always rated Newcastle among the best tracks in Britain. The fences take a bit of jumping, but they provide a very fair test and, from a jockeys standpoint, I would put it right up there with the likes of Newbury. Those two courses ride very much the same and, while they’re both pretty flat, you need to be on one that stays if you want to get home, both over hurdles and in chases. It’s a long way from the turn in to the winning line and, because it’s quite open, it asks questions about a horse’s stamina.
-
Distance Horse (Going) Date Winning time 2m 75y Free Range (Good) 16 Nov 2018 4m 2.35s 2m 4f 19y Rear Admiral (Good) 17 Nov 2017 5m 0.5s 2m 7f 91y Special Prep (Good to Soft) 28 Mar 2019 5m 56.1s 4m 122y Crosspark (Good to Soft) 23 Feb 2019 8m 30.63s Distance Horse (Going) Date Winning time 2m 98y Weather Front (Good) 16 Nov 2018 3m 49.15s 2m 4f 133y Mary Eleanor (Good) 17 Nov 2017 4m 58.1s 2m 6f Getaround (Good) 28 Nov 2020 5m 21.68s 3m 10y Chu Chu Percy (Good) 17 Nov 2017 5m 42.7s Distance Horse (Going) Date Winning time 2m 56y On The Rox (Slow) 24 Feb 2018 3m 37.2s 1m 6f 139y Lossiemouth (Soft) 22 Dec 2018 3m 33.9s Distance Horse (Going) Date Winning time 5f Astraea (Standard) 15 Dec 2018 57.78s 6f Unabated (Standard) 22 Mar 2017 1m 9.86s 7f 14y Devil's Angel (Standard) 31 Jan 2019 1m 20.79s 1m 5y Alfred Richardson (Standard) 09 Nov 2018 1m 36.1s 1m 2f 42y Palisade (Standard) 16 Oct 2016 2m 4.88s 1m 4f 98y Ajman Prince (Standard) 14 Oct 2016 2m 36.76s Distance Horse (Going) Date Winning time 2m 56y Dannyday (Standard) 25 Jun 2016 3m 29.87s -
Trainer Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L J P L Ewart 21 6 £41,978 28.57% -£0.50 Mrs S J Smith 26 5 £30,417 19.23% -£6.17 A M Thomson 18 5 £51,609 27.78% £84.00 N W Alexander 25 4 £58,775 16% £3.75 N G Richards 21 4 £101,870 19.05% £18.38 I Jardine 10 4 £33,414 40% £10.95 Miss Lucinda V Russell 28 3 £13,062 10.71% -£15.50 B M R Haslam 15 3 £18,975 20% £47.50 Rebecca Menzies 12 3 £18,000 25% £5.00 Miss S E Forster 10 3 £15,921 30% £8.38 Trainer Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L P A Kirby 37 6 £27,025 16.22% £0.50 Micky Hammond 28 6 £80,812 21.43% £9.00 Miss Lucinda V Russell 29 5 £29,343 17.24% -£8.13 N J Henderson 6 5 £127,577 83.33% £2.29 Mrs S J Smith 22 4 £26,853 18.18% -£5.72 D W Whillans 18 4 £16,051 22.22% -£9.46 N G Richards 18 4 £14,653 22.22% -£15.35 J P L Ewart 26 4 £14,101 15.38% £3.00 Oliver Greenall 14 4 £16,376 28.57% -£1.04 K Dalgleish 13 4 £18,806 30.77% £40.10 Trainer Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L B Ellison 31 9 £28,915 29.03% -£6.34 Rebecca Menzies 35 5 £15,335 14.29% £4.00 D McCain Jnr 18 3 £9,487 16.67% -£4.00 Tom Lacey 7 3 £6,822 42.86% £8.50 K Dalgleish 16 2 £6,953 12.5% -£10.83 N G Richards 9 2 £4,548 22.22% -£2.25 Miss G Boanas 11 2 £5,523 18.18% £0.50 James Moffatt 11 2 £6,758 18.18% £9.00 P D Niven 6 2 £4,548 33.33% £7.00 Mrs S J Smith 4 2 £4,548 50% £16.00 Trainer Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L R A Fahey 432 52 £266,934 12.04% -£48.34 J H M Gosden 115 36 £185,820 31.3% -£20.23 J S Goldie 327 32 £133,199 9.79% -£6.29 Antony Brittain 258 31 £117,255 12.02% £9.30 B M R Haslam 246 29 £105,213 11.79% -£28.54 M Johnston 270 27 £172,491 10% -£95.05 R Varian 103 25 £128,378 24.27% -£27.88 W J Haggas 78 24 £114,172 30.77% £3.39 B Ellison 214 22 £88,393 10.28% -£50.22 K Dalgleish 219 22 £103,675 10.05% -£52.46 -
Jockey Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L B S Hughes 36 8 £63,292 22.22% -£8.28 Danny Cook 30 5 £30,417 16.67% -£12.17 Sean Quinlan 28 4 £63,532 14.29% £15.57 C O'Farrell 19 4 £25,018 21.05% -£1.13 Ryan Mania 13 4 £46,995 30.77% £79.00 Jamie Hamilton 27 3 £14,361 11.11% -£8.00 Henry Brooke 21 3 £51,497 14.29% -£6.13 Ross Chapman 17 3 £10,592 17.65% £6.00 Sam Coltherd 15 3 £13,517 20% £49.75 A P Cawley 19 2 £11,632 10.53% £25.50 Jockey Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L B S Hughes 53 11 £49,486 20.75% -£6.90 Jamie Hamilton 33 5 £17,545 15.15% £8.22 Danny Cook 30 4 £26,853 13.33% -£14.72 Henry Brooke 26 4 £74,179 15.38% £1.63 Craig Nichol 23 4 £21,341 17.39% £28.25 Thomas Dowson 23 4 £19,162 17.39% £8.50 D R Fox 14 4 £26,224 28.57% £5.38 Ross Chapman 37 3 £10,332 8.11% -£16.09 Danny McMenamin 20 3 £10,234 15% -£11.70 Joe Colliver 11 3 £29,277 27.27% £9.50 Jockey Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L B S Hughes 44 10 £26,380 22.73% -£4.29 Henry Brooke 16 7 £18,785 43.75% £12.27 Nathan Moscrop 22 5 £13,710 22.73% £5.00 Danny Cook 13 5 £16,894 38.46% £10.09 Ross Chapman 28 2 £4,548 7.14% -£25.59 Charlotte Jones 9 2 £6,758 22.22% £11.00 Ryan Mania 9 2 £5,003 22.22% £1.00 G Lee 5 2 £4,873 40% £20.50 Dale Irving 6 2 £5,523 33.33% £28.00 Billy Garritty 5 2 £6,953 40% £3.83 Jockey Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L B A Curtis 354 68 £388,713 19.21% -£10.60 D Tudhope 240 51 £223,478 21.25% £6.34 P J McDonald 372 39 £220,388 10.48% -£110.76 J Fanning 315 39 £210,804 12.38% -£43.58 Callum Rodriguez 238 36 £170,035 15.13% -£1.69 Phil Dennis 366 33 £127,566 9.02% £38.58 A Mullen 394 33 £120,347 8.38% -£65.42 Jason Hart 322 33 £122,277 10.25% -£39.92 Cam Hardie 412 28 £109,781 6.8% -£81.45 P Mulrennan 326 28 £115,534 8.59% -£192.98
Latest Results
Future Fixtures
- Thu 21 January 2021
- Sat 23 January 2021
- Thu 28 January 2021
- Tue 02 February 2021
- Fri 05 February 2021
- Thu 11 February 2021
Current Going
Upcoming races
-
16:30 Bombardier British Hopped Amber Beer Handicap
(Class 6) (1m 5y) -
17:00 Ladbrokes Home Of The Odds Boost Handicap
(Class 5) (1m 5y) -
17:30 Ladbrokes Where The Nation Plays Novice Stakes
(Class 5) (7f 14y) -
18:00 Bombardier British Hopped Amber Beer Handicap
(Class 6) (7f 14y) -
18:30 Play Ladbrokes 5-A-Side On Football Handicap
(Class 4) (6f) -
19:00 Heed Your Hunch At Betway Handicap
(Class 5) (6f) -
19:30 Betway Casino Handicap
(Class 4) (5f)
Replays & Results

Address & Contact
Newcastle Racecourse
High Gosforth Park
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE3 5HP
0191 2362020
Visit Website
Get Directions
Enter starting postcode or just click Go to use your current location.