Racecourses In & Around Manchester

Horse racing is one of the most popular sports in the country. In terms of both betting and attendance, there is only really football that stands above it when it comes to what people want to spend their time watching. Although Manchester used to boast a racecourse, that is no longer the case. As a result, those that wish to watch horse racing and are based in Manchester need to go slightly further afield in order to get their wish. Even more disappointingly for many, considering the rivalry between the two cities, two of the three closest courses are best described as being located in Liverpool, which is objectively quite funny.

The Closest Courses

There are three courses that are close enough to Manchester to mean that you might consider heading to one of them if you fancy a day at the races. They all offer something slightly different from one another, but are, generally speaking, easily accessible by public transport from Manchester city centre as well as in the car. Given it isn’t uncommon for people to enjoy a drink or two whilst at the races, public transport is probably the way that most people will choose to get to all of them.

Aintree Racecourse

Whilst Aintree Racecourse might not be the closest to Manchester – of the three courses, it is undoubtedly the most famous. Located in Aintree in the Sefton area of Merseyside, the course opened its doors for the first time in 1829. The original plan was for the course to host flat racing, which William Lynn, the owner of the Waterloo Hotel in Ranelagh Street, approached Lord Sefton about. A horse racing fan in his own right, Lord Sefton laid the first foundation stone for the new course on the seventh of February and a grandstand was built ahead of the first meeting. That took place on the seventh of July 1829, with the Croxteth Stakes being the first race.

In the years that followed, more and more races were added to the calendar, but the most famous one that was run at the course was the ‘Liverpool Grand Steeplechase’. It will be known to modern fans of the sport as the Grand National and took place for the first time in 1839. The first outing of the event, which asked the horses to jump 29 obstacles on their way to the finish line, was won by a horse named Lottery. The growing popularity of the race saw Aintree Racecourse grow in importance alongside it, with many considering it to be the ‘World’s Greatest Steeplechase’. Nowadays, Aintree stands as one of the best courses in the country.

There are actually three racecourse to be found at Aintree, with the Grand National Course sitting alongside the Mildmay Course and Hurdles Course to offer horses a number of genuine challenges, depending on the race that they’re taking part in. Within the boundary of the course is a nine-hole golf course and a driving range, with Becher’s Brook and other features incorporated into the course. It bisects the racecourse, meaning that obviously isn’t available for use when there is racing taking place. For those that wish to attend Aintree, there are numerous different stands and locations in which you can spend your time.

Haydock Park Racecourse

Set in an area of parkland that sits between Haydock to the west, Golborne to the east, Newton-le-Willows to the south and Ashton-in-Markerfield to the north, Haydock Park was opened in 1899. A most flat course that runs left-handed and boasts a slight rise on a run-in that lasts for four and a half furlongs, there is an extension chute at the course that allows the run-in to be extended to up to six furlongs. There are two courses at the racecourse itself, with one of them being for flat racing and the other allowing for National Hunt events to take place on it. With a Champagne bar, as well as numerous different restaurants and bars, it is a course that can cater to thousands of people.

Haydock Park is owned and operated by the Jockey Club and there are numerous well-known races that are scheduled to take place at the course each year. If you’re particularly keen to watch some jump racing then you’ll want to look out for the likes of the Altcar Novices’ Chase, the Peter Marsh Chase and the Champion Hurdle Trial in January. There is also the Grand National Trial, which takes place in February and is a Grade 3 event that is run over three miles and four furlongs and considered by many to be a useful race to watch before betting on the main event. There are also numerous excellent flat races to look out for.

In June, for example, you can enjoy the Lester Piggott Stakes, the Achilles Stakes and the John of Gaunt Stake. The likes of the Ascendant Stakes, the Haydock Sprint Cup and the Superior Mile are run in September, being some of the last flat races of the season before the jump racing returns. Haydock Park’s position as a racecourse that allows for both flat and jump racing means that it doesn’t obey the ‘seasons’ in the same way as a lot of course. You could go to see the Flat Season Opener towards the end of April, for example, and then the Swindon Hurdle Day in the middle of May. It is a course well worth visiting, even from Manchester.

Chester Racecourse

Also known as the Roodee, Chester Racecourse has welcomed horse racing to the city of Chester since the 16th century. Chester, being the old Roman city that it is, is unique in the sense that the racecourse can be found pretty much smack bang in the middle of the city. Not only that, but the layout of the course means that there are numerous places from which you can watch the horse racing take place without needing to buy a ticket to actually enter the course proper. A 65-acre course that lies on the banks of the River Dee, it was a harbour during the Roman settlement in the Middle Ages, eventually closing when the river silted up.

The ability to watch racing without having to pay an entrance fee comes from the fact that the east side of the course runs up against the famous city walls, promising a view of the entire circuit. The south-east corner sees the Grosvenor Bridge cross over it, which is interesting because that was once the longest single-arch bridge in the world. The rich, of course, always get the best views, which probably helps to explain why the mansions of Curzon Park look over the course from across the river. Chester Racecourse is a flat racing course, with the venue being a popular one thanks to its convenient position so close to the city centre.

If you’re thinking of going to see some racing at Chester then May is the best month to go, given the fact that it is when Chester Racecourse’s Festival takes place. Events such as the Cheshire Oaks, the Chester Vase and the Dee Stakes are run, being thrilling for racegoers to watch. In 2023, the course introduced a dynamic pricing structure for tickets, with the idea being that people would get the cheaper tickets the closer to the race that they buy them. The idea, of course, was to encourage punters to buy their tickets as soon as possible, so that the racecourse would have at least some idea of how many people were likely to attend.

The Now Defunct Manchester Racecourse

Though punters hoping to watch some racing will have to head to Merseyside or Chester, that wasn’t always the case. The first known case of a horse races in the city of Manchester was in 1647, with racing also taking place towards the end of the 17th century. The earliest recorded racing on Kersal Moor took place in 1687. There were other short-lived courses around Manchester, including racing taking place on the site of what would later become Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Manchester Racecourse wasn’t located in one place, moving around between venues before the final one of Castle Irwell, which was named after the large castle nearby.

The fact that there were so many different locations for racing in Manchester is, perhaps, an indication of the fact that it wasn’t really loved enough for the sport to gain a permanent home in the city. Castle Irwell was the location of the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II’s first winner as an owner, which was in June 1952. Even so, but the 1960s the issues with the course were becoming more pronounced. The Club Strand was riddled with rot and a new stand had to be built. The cost of doing so put a financial strain on the course, so it was decided that the Castle Irwell course would be shut after its final meeting on the ninth of November 1963.