Guide to Bangor-On-Dee Racecourse
Guide to Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse – Go Racing at Bangor-on-Dee – Northern-most Welsh Racecourse. Find out What to Wear to Bangor-on-Dee, how to get there, and what to do during your visit.
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About Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse
National Hunt
Location, location, location
Bangor-on-Dee, near Wrexham (not to be confused with Bangor), is the northern-most of the three Welsh racecourses and the only racecourse in the UK without a grandstand. Grass banking acts as a natural amphitheatre and the first brick building was only built on the site 1988.
Course Origins
Racing at Bangor-on-Dee dates back to 1858 when Richard Myddelton Biddulp beat Hon. Lloyd Kenyon in a two-man cross country contest. It created such interest that a full day of racing was arranged the following year – on 25th February 1859 Bangor Is-y-Coed hosted its first chase meeting and has not looked back since.
Fred Archer, Jockey Extraordinaire
It now offers Jump racing almost all year round. For the first 20 years, Bangor-on-Dee also hosted an annual race for ponies under 14 hands run over 2 miles of the steeplechase course. In 1868 this was won by 12-year-old Fred Archer, officially launching his career as one of the greatest jockeys of all time with 2,748 wins from 8,084 starts. In 1889 Fred Hassell rode five winners in one meeting at Bangor-on-Dee – this record still remains unbeaten today.
Dick Francis
In 1947 Jump jockey-turned-thriller-writer Dick Francis competed in his first race under rules at Bangor-on-Dee. He loved it so much he wrote to various trainers begging them for a job as an amateur jockey. He rode his first winner at Bangor-on-Dee on 3rd May the same year, by a margin of over 200 yards. It was also in 1947 that the hurdles course was built and in 1953 the Bangor-on-Dee Steeplechases company was formed.
Cows Stop Play
After a meeting had to be cancelled in 1970 due to cattle over-grazing part of the track, a long lease was agreed with owners Peel Settled Estates for the course to be used exclusively for racing thereafter.
Links to Chester Racecourse
In 2002 Bangor-on-Dee was bought by Chester Race Company and in 2006 the course began hosting the local point-to-point races as well. In 2012 BangorBet replaced the tote on course, making Bangor-on-Dee the first racecourse in 80 years to run without the tote. A year later the course hosted the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Foal Show – the first of its kind in the UK. In 2018 Bangor-on-Dee won ROA Small Racecourse of the Year outright for the first time.
Important Races/Festivals
This is a small course so there are no top ranking races here but locally popular racedays are:
- November – Anne Duchess of Westminster Memorial Handicap Steeple Chase
- January & March: Point-to-Point
Directions
The Racecourse, Bangor-on-Dee, Wrexham LL13 0DA.
- Road: From the South take the M6 to the M54, then A41 to Whitchurch and A525 to Bangor-on-Dee. From the North take the M56 from Manchester, then M53 to Chester and A483 to Wrexham, then follow the signs to the racecourse.
- Rail: A free raceday bus service runs from Wrexham station that is about four miles away.
- Website: www.bangorondeeraces.co.uk
- Telephone: 01244 304610
The Bangor-on-Dee Races Directory - Local Services
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