Wolverhampton Racecourse facts for kids

Wolverhampton Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. The track was the first to be floodlit in Britain and often holds meetings in the evening.

The course has a Tapeta surface, and is one mile (1,609 m) in circumference, with left-hand turns — giving it greater commonality with most racetracks found in the United States than with other venues in the UK.

History

There has been a racecourse in Wolverhampton since 1825, in what is now the West Park, where the Park Road follows the line of the track. This was sold to the Corporation in 1878 and, after a gap of nine years, a new course was formed at Dunstall Park.

In December 1993 the course was re-vamped with floodlights and a new all-weather Fibresand track that ran alongside the turf track. A hotel, new grandstand, restaurant and executive boxes were also built at this time. In 1999 the course was bought from private ownership by Arena Leisure. In 2004 the Fibresand and turf tracks were replaced with a single Polytrack surface, as well as refurbishment of the hotel and conference facilities. Since that time the course has only held flat all weather races. In 2014, citing dissatisfaction with the degradation of the Polytrack surface, the course was closed for several months while a new artificial surface, Tapeta, was laid down. The course reopened on 11 August 2014.

The course has been granted planning permission by Wolverhampton City Council, to expand the hotel from 54 to 170 bedrooms and to tarmac the over-spill car park. The £26 million project also includes plans for a casino which would create the first racino in the UK.

Notable races

• Lady Wulfruna Stakes
• Lincoln Trial Stakes