Whether you are looking for a day out to celebrate a special occasion with family and friends, want to entertain or reward people, or if you want to enjoy a day at the races in comfort and style let Dine & View in Yorkshire Plus arrange your perfect day.

Unmissable Racing Action! 21st - 29th July 2012

Experience the colour and excitement of a day at the races in Yorkshire this summer, plus take a look behind the scenes of Yorkshire Racing! We'll be serving up a feast of great racing, fabulous prizes, live music and great entertainment for horse racing fans and families alike. Find out more about whats in store at the Yorkshire Racing Summer Festival 2012.

Find out more and book tickets... 

Go Racing in Yorkshire

There's lots going in across Yorkshire in April, with fixtures in Doncaster, Redcar, Catterick, Ripon and Wetherby among others. All nine Yorkshire racecourses are in action in May, as the summer season explodes upon the local racing scene, providing a plethora of weekend, midweek and evening fixtures to consider.

Find out more about racing across Yorkshire in the coming months...

York Racecourse has long been known as the Ascot of the north, and truly lived up to that name in 2005 by brilliantly hosting the Royal Ascot festival, as the iconic southern course underwent redevelopment.

Since then the already world-class Knavesmire flat racing course and facilities at York have gone from strength to strength and, set in one of Britain's flagship heritage destinations, provide a truly memorable place to spend a day (or more!) racing, whether you attend one of its prestige festivals or a simple family Sunday.

You will find the Knavesmire to the south west of York's historic city centre, just off the A64 and an easy 20-minute or so walk (or even easier bus ride) from its elegant East Coast mainline railway station, once the largest in Europe.  If you are looking for a place in history, you'll certainly find it here. The Knavesmire has been home to racing in York for 280 years, but this city has hosted horse races since Roman times....2000 years ago!

Awards

York Racecourse is delighted that the team has won the following awards:

• Northern Racecourse of the Year 2010 - for the 21st consecutive year! (Racegoers Club)
• Hospitality Business of the Year 2010 (York Business Awards)
• Overall Catering Excellence Award 2010 (National Racecourse Industry)

Calendar

In 2010 York races attracted a record 358,000 visitors .

They include August's four day Ebor meeting, featuring one of the world's top middle distance races, the Juddmonte International, won in 2010 by Rip Van Winkle. The Ebor Handicap is another great race from the same meeting, which also features the social highlight of the racing calendar, Ladies Day, on Thursday 18th August.

York's May opener, the Dante Festival, is another fantastic festival, with the feature 'Dante Stakes' a well known precursor to the Derby trial in May, not to mention the Ebor Festival itself. For something a little more low key, but no less enjoyable, try the relaxed atmosphere of the season's closing two-day meeting in mid October, and take the rest of the weekend to enjoy the entertainment and touristic attractions of York.

Doncaster is a truly historic racing destination, boasting not just one, but two, of the world's oldest races and a heritage of regular race meetings dating back to the 16th century.

The Doncaster Cup is the world's oldest continuously run race. The horses were first 'off' in 1766. Just ten years later the legendary St Leger, named after Colonel Anthony St Leger, got underway, making it now the oldest of the five 'classics' (it's also the longest).

Doncaster racecourse is one of only two in Yorkshire to offer both flat racing and National Hunt jump racing. It hosts races in every month of the year and, with 34 racedays planned in 2011, can lay claim to be Yorkshire's most prolific track.

Calendar

When racing gets underway at Doncaster's classic Town Moor course, on the outskirts of the town, the world takes notice. The Lincoln meeting in April marks the start of the UK flat racing season, which also ends with Doncaster's November Handicap.  The St Leger Festival in September features the last of the season's classics, and the longest at 1 mile 6 furlongs.

Doncaster is easy to get to, by car via the A1,  by train via the East Coast main line, or even by air to Doncaster Robin Hood Airport just seven miles away.

Horse racing in Ripon, North Yorkshire takes place at what is affectionately termed Yorkshire's Garden Racecourse (Ripon Racecourse). As you can imagine, it's a beautiful spot, in a diminutive market town whose medieval cathedral makes it one of the oldest cities in England.

There has been racing in Ripon for around 300 years, and the 2011 season looks like being one of the best.

You'll find all the action is situated close to the A1, 11 miles north of Harrogate.

Calendar

Ripon offers 15 racedays for you to be a part of in the 2011 season, along with several special events, featuring top runners and riders.

Pontefract, home of the rich and iconic liquorice cakes, has offered top notch horse racing for over two centuries. How do we know? Well, in 1802 members' badges were sold for £50! Today you can enjoy the friendly flavour of this great Yorkshire racecourse for a lot less than that.

Pontefract racecourse prides itself on catering for the racegoer, and is not short on experience. Not only has racing taken place in the town since 1648, but the current course was one of just two northern venues to have staged racing during World War II - proving Pontefract's 'show must go on' passion for horse racing that continues to this day.

Pontefract's flat race meetings generate great atmosphere in intimate surroundings, and are invariably graced with competitive racing too. The home straight of over 2 furlongs, with the last 4 furlongs of the course uphill, guarantees some grandstand finishes among strong horses.

Calendar

Pontefract's flat racing season runs from early April to mid October and takes place on the longest continuous horse racing circuit in Europe at 2 miles and 125yds.

The 16 meetings planned for 2011 include three evening meetings and three Sunday meetings, with Ladies Day early in August.

Situated just off the M62 at junction 32 (the other side of the motorway from the Xscape snow zone) just outside the market town itself, Pontefract races offer a welcoming experience that attracts lively crowds of race lovers from across the north.

Yorkshire's only exclusively National Hunt jumps racecourse, with easy access to Wetherby, and only 12 miles from Leeds, Wetherby Racecourse is one of the most convenient and enjoyable places to follow horse racing in Britain.  Voted the Small Racecourse of the Year 2010 Northern Area (Racegoers Club).

Horses have raced on the current site since 1891 however, long before, that local people gathered to enjoy competition in the town at Scaur Bank.

Wetherby's love of horse racing is perhaps most evident in December, when its hugely popular two-day Christmas meeting takes place.

Wetherby's most famous race is autumn's £100,000 Charlie Hall Chase which, with eighteen fences over more than three miles, is often contested by horses that will later do battle in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National.

Calendar

Wetherby's jump racing season runs from October through to early June, with no less than 17 meetings planned for 2011. Christmas Carol Saturday is on 3rd December.

Whenever you visit, you will find Wetherby racecourse just off the A1, on the opposite side of the road to the charming and lively market town of Wetherby itself.

If there is no racing on any given Sunday all is not lost however - Wetherby Racecourse also plays host to a very popular Sunday market and car boot sale.

Catterick's 27 race meetings per year put it second only to Doncaster in the quantity of races hosted, but there's plenty of quality too. One of just two courses in Yorkshire to offer both flat and National Hunt racing, Catterick Racecourse hosts meetings every month, and gets things underway as early as possible with the very first jumps gathering of the year on New Year's Day.

You will find Catterick Racecourse (since 1783) in the hamlet of Catterick Bridge close to the Catterick Garrison, the worlds' largest British Army barracks, and home to around 12000 soldiers. The venue, close to the A1, is also home to Catterick Sunday market, the largest in the north of England

Calendar

In course's Flat season begins in March, with 17 meetings running right through to November. In December it's back to the fences again. And it never stops!

Catterick's flat season includes three evening meetings.

Thirsk's fame as the real-life setting for the work of author and vet, James Herriot, provides a backdrop for a visit to one of Yorkshire's most beautiful racecourses - Thirsk Racecourse. The compact and scenic circuit of this local market town, nestled in the broad vale in the Hambleton area between the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales, makes for a perfect day out for visitors to the region looking for a laid back racecourse with an excess of charm.

There's great history too. Racing in the area began on the nearby Hambleton Hills almost exactly 400 years ago under King James I. More recently (the 1700s!) one of Thirsk's biggest races, the Thomas Lord Stakes, was named after Thomas Lord a local resident who became the founder of Lord's Cricket Ground. The current compact and attractive course in Station Road opened in 1855.

Thirsk's 13-day season on the Flat begins on Grand National Day (Saturday 9th April) and concludes with the 'Ladies Day' meeting on Saturday 3rd September 2011.

Beverley, an attractive and lively Georgian market town that was voted 'Best place to live' in Britain in 2007, is home to the most easterly of Yorkshire's nine horse racing courses. With its medieval North Bar entrance and magnificent gothic minster, this gem of a town provides a wonderful backdrop to a day at the races.

Racing at Beverley has taken place since 1690 on Westwood Pasture, a historic and atmospheric piece of common land just a short walk from the town centre, known locally as simply 'the Westwood'. Here you can enjoy an unbeatable combination of modern facilities, spectacular views....and great racing.

Beverley Racecourse is just 10 miles from the east coast city of Hull, and a short 13 mile hop from the M62 to the south.

Calendar

Beverley hosts flat racing from April to September, with 20 racedays in 2011.

Redcar is Yorkshire's only coastal town race course, situated a few miles north of Middlesborough near the mouth of the River Tees! Before today's course opened up its turf in the 1870s, racing actually took place on the nearby Sands of Coatham. More recently, Redcar, a former fishing community, provided the setting for the beach scenes in the recent Oscar-winning film Atonement.

Redcar's modern racecourse is set in 72 panoramic acres, and easily accessed by road, rail and air, or even on foot from the town centre.

There are 18 racedays from 18th April to 1st November 2011.