Race type - Jump
Newbury
Course details
GUIDE - For Racecourse
Left-handed, flattened, oval circuit of 1m6f.
Newbury is busy throughout the year as a dual purpose track and it's quality National Hunt programme, which includes the prestigious Hennessy Gold Cup, makes it one of Britain's premier jumps tracks. The history lovers amongst us will be interested to know that the course was the brainchild of John Porter who, after being introduced by King Edward VII, persuaded the Lord of the Manor of Greenham to give over some of his estate to a racecourse. To finish the story, the first race meeting took place in 1905 and it quickly grew in popularity with the proximity of the training establishments at Lambourn one of the keys to its success. Easy access helped too and if you are travelling by train, it's one of the easiest courses to get to as the station is right outside, providing the trains are running on time of course (usually not).
Principal Races
The Hennessy Gold Cup run here over 3m2f in late November is an early season target for the top handicap chasers, some of which have previously run in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham at the beginning of the month. That race is over 2m5f but it's not unusual for horses to attempt 'the double' and Celestial Gold achieved just that in 2004. Denman absolutely destroyed the field when winning in 2007 off top weight and he repeated the feat two years later, which was all the more remarkable for the fact he'd been off the track with a heart problem. A big tank of a horse with an equal measure of guts and stamina, he epitomised what it takes to win this race.
The other big meeting run here takes place in February, which has been known as 'Betfair Super Saturday' in recent seasons to appease the sponsors. 'Super' is no exaggeration either as there are some excellent races on the card, including the Denman Chase and Game Spirit Chase, which are trials for the Gold Cup and Champion Chase respectively. The Betfair Hurdle (the old totesport Trophy) is run on the same day and is one the richest two mile handicap hurdles run in Britain, and is frequently contested by horses just below Champion Hurdle class.
Course Characteristics
With both the hurdles and chase courses being perfectly flat and measuring 1m7f in circumference, it's safe to say that Newbury is an ideal venue for the more galloping type of horse, as they have plenty of room to stretch out and the bends are easy to negotiate too. Unless the ground is riding on the fast side, it's more about stamina than speed around here and it's rare for horses to make all, with the majority of winners coming from of the pace. The fences are equidistant which does allow horses to get into a good rhythm but that said they still take plenty of jumping, and this is no place to run an iffy jumper. There's even an emphasis on jumping on the hurdles track as first three obstacles on the home straight all come in quick succession and on the final circuit the fast and accurate jumpers can steal a decisive advantage. The water jump is omitted on the final circuit, but tell that to amateur rider George Gorman who jumped it in error when leading a race in March 2012 and was disqualified as a result!
Top Trainers
This is a premier jumps track and therefore it's the top trainers who dominate proceedings with the current champion Paul Nicholls leading the way numerically over the past five seasons with 58 winners. However, his lead over Nicky Henderson has narrowed to just one in recent seasons and the tussle for the trainer's title between the pair is going to provide the narrative for many jumps seasons to come. Honourable mentions must also go to Philip Hobbs and Alan King, who have sent out 29 and 25 winners respectively, whilst the West Country yard of David Pipe is proving particularly profitable to follow with all his runners yielding a level stakes profit of over £50.
Top Jockeys
As with the trainers, it's the big-name jockeys that do best here, with AP McCoy comfortably clear on 37 winners (since 2007) and with these coming at a strike rate of 27%, you would have made a level stakes profit of £18 backing all his rides. Richard Johnson has ridden five less winners but his rides tend not to be so overbet and his profits are a staggering £77. The Irish pair of Barry Geraghty and Ruby Walsh also make the most of their opportunities with 30 and 29 winners respectively to their name. The rest have some catching up to do.