Sedgefield Course Guide

Jumping takes place throughout the year at Sedgefield and the calendar highlight is the Durham National Handicap Chase. Previously run in April, the 3m 5f event is now staged in the autumn, being won in 2014 by the useful Royale Knight.

The County Durham course is something of a specialist’s track and one of the most popular equine regulars in recent years was Fatehalkhair, who won 13 races at the course.

Jumps Racing

Left handed, undulating. Easy fences and one of the lowest casualty rates, fallers/unseats at the two fences in the home straight being especially rare. In theory, uphill finish should dictate that plenty of races change complexion late in the day but, in practice, that isn't the case, the run-in on the hurdles course being short and plenty having a tendency to pick up again when challenged on the chase track.

A fast, accurate jumper is ideally what you want to be on at Sedgefield. The fences aren’t difficult there, though, in fact they’re relatively easy, and, especially for summer racing, you can often get away with it on a horse that’s not the greatest of jumpers. It’s different in the middle of winter, when the ground can get testing, and, on days it’s like that, you see a lot of the jocks coming up the stands’ rail, particularly in hurdle races. That can prove a bit of a golden highway when underfoot conditions are soft.

View from the saddle: Mick Fitzgerald

Sedgefield Top Times
Last 5 years

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
2m 77y	Ink Master (Good to Firm)	30 Aug 2018	3m 48.7s
2m 3f 65y	The Backup Plan (Good to Firm)	27 Aug 2015	4m 38.6s
2m 4f	Abricot De L'oasis (Good to Firm)	30 Apr 2015	4m 46.16s
2m 5f 28y	Chasma (Good)	05 Apr 2019	4m 19s
2m 6f	Oh Right (Good)	04 Sep 2014	5m 17.75s
3m 2f 59y	Running In Heels (Good to Firm)	30 Aug 2018	6m 27.5s
3m 3f	Hinton Indiana (Good)	04 Sep 2014	6m 44.37s
3m 5f 48y	Buachaill Alainn (Good)	27 Oct 2016	7m 19.5s
3m 6f	Royale Knight (Good to Soft)	30 Oct 2014	7m 55.59s

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
2m 178y	High Expectations (Good)	06 Sep 2018	3m 43.7s
2m 3f 188y	Apterix (Good to Firm)	30 Aug 2018	4m 24.1s
2m 5f 34y	Jack Lamb (Good to Firm)	30 Aug 2018	4m 49.1s
3m 3f 9y	Omid (Good to Firm)	27 Aug 2015	6m 22.3s

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
2m 178y	C'est Le Bonheur (Good to Firm)	02 Oct 2018	3m 46.8s

Sedgefield Top Trainers
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
B Ellison	29	8	15	£42,769	27.59%	-£10.15
Micky Hammond	66	7	28	£26,123	10.61%	-£37.25
Mrs S J Smith	45	7	24	£33,532	15.56%	-£9.88
Miss J E Foster	18	6	6	£25,084	33.33%	£25.60
D McCain Jnr	29	5	17	£19,495	17.24%	-£12.38
Sam Drake	30	5	15	£23,139	16.67%	£9.83
V Thompson	52	4	18	£11,826	7.69%	-£3.00
P Bowen	10	4	3	£32,479	40%	£13.67
M W Easterby	7	4	2	£16,311	57.14%	£7.88
Christian Williams	6	4	1	£31,765	66.67%	£5.28

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
D McCain Jnr	128	17	66	£78,974	13.28%	-£39.43
B Ellison	62	14	31	£59,505	22.58%	-£7.72
Micky Hammond	107	11	31	£43,214	10.28%	-£59.27
N P Mulholland	26	10	6	£36,640	38.46%	£5.31
P A Kirby	40	9	17	£36,260	22.5%	£29.88
Mrs S J Smith	43	9	15	£34,440	20.93%	-£6.24
Mrs Dianne Sayer	41	8	12	£30,281	19.51%	£14.38
G Elliott	17	8	4	£35,610	47.06%	£2.86
D Skelton	31	7	14	£22,093	22.58%	-£14.33
Rebecca Menzies	36	7	12	£24,953	19.44%	£41.33

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
B Ellison	11	3	5	£6,693	27.27%	£3.07
C Grant	12	2	5	£3,249	16.67%	£16.75
D McCain Jnr	7	2	5	£4,548	28.57%	£1.00
S R B Crawford	6	1	5	£1,560	16.67%	-£5.33
P A Kirby	9	1	4	£2,274	11.11%	-£5.00
Olly Murphy	4	1	3	£2,274	25%	-£2.27
K Dalgleish	3	1	2	£2,274	33.33%	£0.75
N G Richards	3	1	2	£1,689	33.33%	£4.00
F O'Brien	3	1	1	£2,274	33.33%	-£0.50
D W Whillans	3	1	1	£1,560	33.33%	£3.50

Sedgefield Top Jockeys
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
B S Hughes	69	17	38	£98,243	24.64%	-£22.09
Danny Cook	41	10	22	£47,708	24.39%	£6.13
Henry Brooke	34	8	11	£49,635	23.53%	-£2.40
Ross Chapman	17	6	6	£26,904	35.29%	£17.25
Jonathan England	24	5	13	£23,139	20.83%	£15.83
Thomas Dowson	34	4	12	£12,281	11.76%	£1.50
James Bowen	7	4	2	£31,765	57.14%	£3.08
R P McLernon	22	3	12	£15,856	13.64%	£3.00
A P Cawley	16	3	4	£11,827	18.75%	-£3.88
S Bowen	12	3	4	£27,865	25%	£9.00

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
B S Hughes	135	27	70	£115,707	20%	-£43.88
Sean Quinlan	69	13	22	£52,180	18.84%	£11.85
Danny Cook	52	11	20	£46,152	21.15%	-£5.89
R Johnson	22	9	8	£37,884	40.91%	-£0.81
W T Kennedy	77	7	39	£27,530	9.09%	-£44.00
Henry Brooke	71	7	22	£22,269	9.86%	-£30.88
Joe Colliver	32	6	10	£21,769	18.75%	£0.70
A Nicol	38	5	10	£20,144	13.16%	-£19.50
Jonathan England	31	5	10	£17,285	16.13%	-£15.18
Harry Skelton	18	5	4	£14,295	27.78%	-£4.83

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
B S Hughes	17	6	5	£12,020	35.29%	£25.82
W T Kennedy	8	2	5	£3,834	25%	£7.50
Sean Quinlan	7	1	4	£2,274	14.29%	-£3.00
Craig Nichol	5	1	4	£1,560	20%	-£0.50
R D Day	4	1	2	£1,689	25%	£2.00
R Johnson	3	1	2	£2,274	33.33%	-£2.27
Henry Brooke	6	1	1	£1,949	16.67%	-£0.50
Callum Whillans	4	1	1	£1,560	25%	£2.50
Danny McMenamin	2	1	1	£2,859	50%	£3.50
James Bowen	2	1	1	£2,274	50%	-£0.09