Nottingham Racecourse & Betting Review: Top Events, Best Offers and Facts

If you’re looking for a concise, neat roundup of the best UK betting sites for wagering on races at the Nottingham Racecourse then look no further: our top review has everything you need! To get started on the right foot, take a look at the table shown above, where you’ll find info relating to welcome bonuses, payout prices, betting types and special promotions. For more detailed info on the course itself, including technical course specs, historical insights, general facts, stats and loads more, head down to the following sections and get our unabridged, detailed review perfect for UK punters!

The Turf Itself

Nottingham Racecourse is different from many others we’ve reviewed here on the site in that there are actually two different tracks on top of each other. Both left-handed and measure at about one-and-a-half miles in total with the inner track being used in spring and autumn and the outer track coming into play during summer. There are two pretty tight bends that command respect and long home straights of five and six furlongs respectively that have a few minor undulations. The tight turns and relatively narrow track means that races are often run at a steadier pace, meaning that nimbler, speedier types are at a slight advantage as opposed to larger, long-striding customers. Overall it’s a pretty fair course, however, the bottom bend is where a lot of riders can get caught out. Also, runners that start too hard too soon on the final straight often come unstuck as it’s a lot longer than it appears at first glance.

Most Popular Nottingham Horse Racing Events

Nottingham horse racing is most famous for three races that both come in the early part of the flat racing season. The first is the Listed Further Flight Stakes for horses aged four years and above that traditionally takes place in April. It’s run over a distance of 1 mile and six furlongs and offers a purse of £40,000 – about £22,600 goes to the winner with the rest shared among the place runners. The next big event is the Kilvington Fillies’ Stakes, a 6-furlong race that takes place in early-May. It is reserved for fillies and mares aged three-years-old or above and also offers a purse of around £40,000. Third – but by no means least – is the Nottinghamshire Oaks. Run over 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 50 yards, it’s reserved for fillies and mares aged over four-years-old – providing they haven’t won a Group 1 race in the current or previous season – and also offers a purse of £40,000.

Some Interesting Facts

Did you know that the Nottinghamshire Oaks was previously run at the Warwick Racecourse?! Between 2006 and 2013 it was named the Warwickshire Oaks and enjoyed good spectatorship before a fatal accident resulted in the death of a horse named Artful Lady and resulted in the racecourse losing four important flat fixtures. A later enquiry found that turf management issues were not a serious factor in the accident, which say Artful Lady fall about three furlongs into the race, however, many trainers and riders lost confidence in the track and, as a result, the Nottingham horse racing track was chosen as the new location.

Racecourse Information:
First Opened:	1892	Nottingham Racecourse logo The Grandstand at Nottingham Racecourse
Max. Race Distance:	1m 6f 15y
Surface:	Turf
Event:	Kilvington Fillies’ Stakes
Average Temperature:	1°/22°
Racecourse Capacity:	10000

Nottingham is perhaps most famous for the bizarre triple dead heat that saw three runners – Thorpe Bay, Majestic Manannan and My Time – all awarded fourth place in the Lodge Farm Stud Chris And May Mullin Handicap. It was the first time a triple heat had been seen in over ten years and, after several reviews of the finish and much deliberation, there was simply no way to separate them and they were all given an equal share of the prize money. Nottingham horse racing betting has not since been seriously affected by the result, however, there was a fair amount of confusion on the day regarding payouts! Of all the tracks we reviewed, it’s definitely the craziest story!

Nottingham Racecourse: The Story so Far

The current site of the racecourse at Colwick Park was founded in 1892, however, horses races had been staged in Nottingham for more than a century before. From around 1773 races had previously been held at the Recreation Ground. It was one of the first race courses in the whole of Britain to be granted a Royal Plate race by the monarch. In the mid-20th century there was a time when the future of the course was in doubt, however, funding was secured by the Levy Board and the Racecourse Holdings Trust and allowed for racing to continue. It was also around this time that Nottingham betting began to emerge as a serious market.

The Nottingham horse racing track has seen a number of memorable competitors compete on its turf over the years. The Listed Further Flight Stakes has probably seen the greatest number of top runners, including Further Flight (the horse after which the race is named) and Alcazar. Further Flight, an Irish-bred British-trained gelding, won the Nottingham race twice in 1996 and 1998. Earlier in his career, he also won the Ebor Handicap (1990) the Goodwood Cup (1991,1992) and the Doncaster Cup (1992) and also won the European Champion Older Horse award in 1995.