The UK hosts four all-weather tracks with one more in the process of construction at Great Leighs, Essex. Horse racing fans absolutely love all-weather racing.  Of course, considering that  5 million pounds  is offered as prize money for this exciting and competitive racing season, this really doesn’t come as a surprise!

However, to some people watching low-grade horses running on the sand in Southwell may not prove to be quite as alluring as Ascot in the summer.  But over time, the UK all-weather racing scene has grown from strength to strength and is making punters work that much harder to pull in profits on races ‘on the beach’.

UK stages all-weather flat racing at Lingfield Park, Wolverhampton, Kempton Park, and in Southwell in Nottinghamshire. 

If you want to pursue all-weather horse racing in the UK, you have to be well aware of a few facts related to this form of racing.  The most important point is that this racing differs slightly at each of the different venues within the UK.  Except for the all-weather track located in Kempton, all of the other courses are left-handed.

Additionally, the courses in Wolverhampton and Southwell are lozenge-shaped, while the one in Lingfield is more triangular.  The sharp contours in Lingfield’s course, with a short finishing straight, indicates that this is a much better course for horses that race up with the pace.

 Even the racing surfaces of these UK all-weather courses differ from each other.  For example, the material used in both Wolverhampton and Lingfield is “Polytrack”, a form of rubberized sand which helps to minimize the impact of “kickback”.  Kickback is the effect horses produce when thundering over loose-topped sand.  This use of Polytrack indicates that the races held here are usually held at a good pace; so bear this in mind when placing your bets on these races.

Southwell uses a different racing material called Fibersand which creates a more demanding surface when compared to Polytrack.  Racing here is similar to racing on soft or heavy ground, but the kickback is much more pronounced than other UK all-weather horse racing courses.  This particular course is better for horses that can race ”prominently” and are “strong travelers”, as these are the horses that avoid kickback as much as possible.