FONTWELL Racecourse

A practical guide to FONTWELL Racecourse, including its track layout, jumping test and the courses most likely to provide useful form clues.

About FONTWELL Racecourse

Fontwell racecourse is situated in West Sussex, due to the unique nature of the figure of eight racecourse viewing is excellent, and I always find the staff very welcoming.

Key Characteristics

There are two types of track at Fontwell, the hurdle course being a tight left handed course of about a mile with four hurdles per circuit. The chase course is a figure of eight with six fences which are all in the two straight intersections linked with the hurdle course. Being a figure of eight this means that horses need to go both right handed and left handed. It is certainly not a course for the big, long-striding horse, and it can cause problems for inexperienced chasers.

Course Summary

Track: Hurdles - Tight left handed track with an easy finish. Chase - Tight figure of eight course in which they go both right and left handed.

Fences: Average.

Interesting Facts

Fontwell Park was founded by trainer Alfred Day and staged its first meeting on 21 May 1924.
Its steeplechase track is laid out in a figure of eight, making it unique among British racecourses.
Princess Elizabeth and the Queen Mother gained their first winner as joint owners when Monaveen won at Fontwell in 1949.
John Francome rode his 1,036th career winner at Fontwell in 1984, breaking Stan Mellor’s record for a National Hunt jockey.

Similar Courses

Form from the following courses may be particularly relevant when assessing runners at FONTWELL:

Bangor
Kelso
Aintree
Newton Abbot
Southwell
Market Rasen