The Home of the Midlands Grand National

In last month’s OCP magazine I looked at Taunton, one of the five National Hunt racecourses located in the south west of England. This month I am moving even deeper into the south west of Britain for a look at Uttoxeter racecourse.

As before in this series of articles on British racecourses, I will look briefly at the track’s location, history, configuration and a couple of big races run at the track. I will also highlight some significant track stats.

History and Location

Uttoxeter racecourse is suited in the English county of Staffordshire and is very close to the market town of the same name. Situated just off the A50, the racecourse is within easy access of both the M6 & M1.

For those travelling by train, Uttoxeter railway station is next to the course. You can get direct trains from Stoke, Derby, and Crewe.

The racecourse was built in 1907 and took over the licence from the defunct Keele Park racecourse.

Initially, the track only had five meetings during the year. As with many racecourses around the country, the First World War saw the track close and it only re-opened in 1921.

The First World War closed down all racing throughout the country in 1914. The Second World War also saw the course close and it was taken over by the War Department. It was not until 1952 that racing returned to Uttoxeter after Uttoxeter Urban Council had bought the course from the previous owners.

In 1988 the course was bought off East Staffordshire Council by Sir Stanley Clarke and his company Northern Racing. It would be fair to say that Clarke invested heavily in the track, building two new Grandstands and a new paddock area.

Today Uttoxeter racecourse is part of Arena Racing Company (ARC), the largest racecourse group in the UK, which was created by a merger between Northern Racing and Arena Leisure Plc. There are now 25 race days each year. Meetings are held throughout the year, both winter and summer and that’s reflected in the dates of the two biggest races held here. With the Midlands Grand National held each March and the Listed Summer Cup, a handicap chase, taking place each June.

Track Configuration

Uttoxeter is a left-handed, sharp oval shaped course of one mile two and a half furlongs in circumference. Despite its sharp nature when the going is heavy it provides a good test of stamina for both horse & jockey. There are no perfect straights here and the track includes some fairly tight bends and plenty of turns.

On the chase course, there are eight fences to be jumped. Four in the back straight and another four in the home straight. The hurdles course is sited inside the chase course and there are three hurdles in the back and another three in the home straight.

Given its sharp nature and many turns, not surprisingly the course favours horses who travel well. Runners who hit a flat spot in their races often struggle to win here over both hurdles and fences.

On the quick ground, the track will often suit horses that are ridden prominently and it can be difficult for horses to make up ground from the rear.

You will often see more experienced jockey’s go out wide in the back straight. They do this due to the configuration of the track which means going on the inside isn’t always the shortest route as it would be on other tracks.

Uttoxeter's Big Races

Midlands Grand National

The most valuable race at Uttoxeter is the Midlands Grand National. The race is run over 4m 1 ½ f making it one of the longest races in the racing calendar.

First run in 1969 the race has produced plenty of famous winners, including Rag Trade, The Thinker, Bonanza Boy and future Gold Cup winner Synchronised in 2010.

Last year’s renewal was won by the Bob Buckler trained Regal Flow who won at odds of 16/1. Since 1997 the biggest price winner of the race was Minella Four Star at 25/1 in 2011.

In the past ten years, it’s often paid to back whatever David Pipe runs in the race. Pipe is the most successful trainer in the race in recent years. Since 2011 he’s 4 winners from 11 runners 36% +41.5 5 placed 45%.

Summer Cup

The race was first run in 2012 and replaced the Summer National which used to be run at the course. The latter race was run over 4m but the Summer Cup is a 3m 2f handicap chase.

Last years renewal was won by the Dan Skelton trained 9-year-old Virgilio at 8/1. The trainer also had the runner-up in 2017. Another winning trainer is Rebecca Curtis who the race in 2014 with the Romford Pele and had the 3rd & 5th in last years race.

The race is valuable prize for the Summer jumpers and normally attracts a 16+ field of runners.

Uttoxeter Stats

Let’s begin by looking at some general stats including favourite stats at the course since 2014.

The stats below are from Jan 1st 2014 to the time of writing (10/01/19) and cover all jumps meetings at the course. Once again, I am using the ever useful www.horseracebase.com for the stats.

The results below contain 853 winners from 7587 runners.

General Stats

Top 3 in the betting provided 70% winners from 33% of the total runners
Top four last time out provided 60% of the total winners from 44% of the total runners.

Fate of Favourites

Now let’s look at the fate of the favourites.

On average favourites, including Joint & Co favs, win about 35% of all National Hunt races. How have favourites fared at Uttoxeter in the period under research?

All Favourites have produced – 352 winners from 916 runners 38% +58.03 A/E 1.08 575 placed 63%

Breaking those results down into non-handicaps and handicaps and looking at last time out placings:

Non -Handicaps – 151 winners from 305 runners 50% +23.67 A/E 1.07 226 placed 74%

Handicaps – 201 winners from 611 runners 33% +34.36 A/E 1.09 349 placed 57%

Favourites that won their last race have produced – 120 winners from 274 runners 44% + 34.5 A/E 1.16 182 placed 66%

Favourites that had finished outside the top four on their last start produced – 92 winners from 231 runners 40% +36.1 A/E 1.13 149 placed 65%

Uttoxeter is clearly a track that’s good for favourite backers. It’s not often that you see favourites being profitable to back blindly but it is here both in handicap and no handicap races.

Looking at the above, favourites that were last time out winners have been really profitable to back and are performing a very healthy 16% better than market expectations.

Trainers & Favourites

If you’re a favourite backer. Then the best performing trainers when the money is down are:

Trainer Stats and Angles

Here are a few interesting trainer track stats. That will hopefully enable you to identify some winners at Uttoxeter through the rest of this season.

The top trainer at the track numerically is Dan Skelton whose had 26 more winners than his nearest rival Jonjo O’Neill.

For those of you looking for profitable angle for the trainer’s runners. You would do worse than focus on his handicap hurdlers.

Six other trainers, including race type, worth noting are:

Warren Greatrex (NHF Races) – 9 winners from 18 runners 50% +14.13 A/E 1.81 13 placed 72%

David Pipe (NHF Races) – 5 winners from 15 runners 33% +14.8 A/E 1.82 6 placed 40%

Katy Price (Chasers) – 5 winners from 12 runners 42% +35 A/E 3.55 8 placed 67%

Harry Fry (Chasers) – 8 winners from 25 runners 32% +24.6 A/E 1.52 10 placed 40%

Fergal O’Brien (Handicap Chases) – 6 winners from 23 runners 26% +33.25 A/E 2.17 10 placed 43%

Anthony Honeyball (Handicap Hurdles) – 7 winners from 27 runners 26% +26.38 A/E 1.19 17 placed 63%

Hopefully, you enjoyed this brief look at Uttoxeter racecourse and some of the track’s key stats.

The next chapter in this tour of British racecourse heads up to Aintree, the home of the Grand National.

Until next time.