Sandown Park Racecourse
Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse racing during afternoons, evenings and on weekends, and also hosts many non racing events such as trade shows, wedding fairs, toy fairs, car shows and auctions, property shows, and concerts. The venue have hosted bands such as UB40, Madness (band), Girls Aloud, Sugarbabes, Spandau Ballet, Westlife, Boyzone and Simply Red. Facilities include a wedding reception, Daytona Karting track, 18 hole golf course with driving range, gym with bar facility, dry ski slope (120m with button lift), snowboard and ski club. Sandown Park has spectacular views over Heathrow Airport and London landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, The Gherkin, Canary Wharf and the London Eye. The racecourse is very close to Esher railway station served by trains from London Waterloo.
History
Sandown Park was one of the first courses to charge all for attending. It opened in 1875 and everyone had to pay at least half a crown. The first meeting was over three days, starting on Thursday 22nd April, and included the Grand National Hunt Chase, now staged at the Cheltenham Festival. The Grand International Steeple Chase took place on the Saturday, worth £2,130 to the winner, and was the largest prize for a steeplechase that season, unusually even eclipsing that for the Liverpool Grand National. [1]
Notable races
Flat racing:
National Hunt racing:
References
- ^ Stevens, Peter, History of the National Hunt Chase 1860-2010, pp 53-55. ISBN 9780956725004
External links
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