Kempton Park Race Course

The Kempton Park Race Course in Sunbury- on – Thames is an all weather horse racing as well as entertainment venue with some fantastic facilities for all business and social events. This is London’s premier race course. The best of horse racing in UK is hosted here. Also conducted here are Flat evening horse races and jump races, the most famous being the King George VI Chase that is held every Boxing Day. With a premier race track coupled with the facilities provided at night, the Kempton Park Race Course results in absolute brilliance. Fine dining is another perk here.

Location: Kempton Park Race Course is situated in Surrey, England. Surrey is a western suburb 16 miles away from the centre of the London city. The race course is set in about 210 acres of land.

History: This race course was the result of an idea developed by a 19th century businessman named S. H. Hyde. He was on a carriage drive in the country side, when he happened to come across the Kempton Manor and Park out on sale. Hyde then bought and leased the land in 1872 and 6 years later, in the month of July of the year 1878, Kempton Park was opened to the public as a race course.

Features: After shutting down in 2005, Kempton Park opened in 2006 equipped with an all-weather Polytrack Synthetic Dirt track along with flood lighting so as to facilitate races in all lighting conditions and in any weather situation. There is also a National Hunt Triangular circuit that is practically flat at 1 metre and 5 feet with a 220 yard run in. The race course also has its very own railway station in the form of the Southwest Trains to the Waterloo line. Another unique feature is the presence of a lake on the premises.

Feature Races:

  • Flat Races – Of the several flat races conducted here, few are the Dragonfly Stakes, Floodlit Stakes, Ladybird Stakes, Magnolia Stakes, Hyde stakes, Easter stakes, September Stakes, Snowdrop Fillies’ Stakes, Wild Flower Stakes etc.
  • National Hunt Races – With a great National Hunt Triangular circuit present, it is no surprise that quite a few national hunt races are also held at Kempton Park quite frequently. Some of them are the Christmas Hurdle, Lanzarote Hurdle, Feltham Novices’ Chase, Desert Orchid Hurdle, King George VI Chase, Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase, Lapland Mares’ Hurdle etc.
  • The Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes – This is a Thoroughbred English Race that first took place on the 18th of March in 2009 at Kempton Park. The race winner is guaranteed a spot in the 2009 Kentucky Derby that is held in May on the 1st Saturday. The race offers a prize of US$150,000. In addition to this, there is a further bonus of $100,000.

Racehorses: Mafaaz, the racehorse, won The Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes this year with an impressive timing of 1:55.17.