Leicester Racecourse
Leicester is a dual purpose racecourse in Oadby, south-east of the city in the East Midlands. If travelling by road, exit the M1/M69 at Junction 21 and take the A563 towards Oadby and Wigston. The racecourse is clearly sign posted when you reach the A6. Leicester Train Station is just two miles from the course with frequent bus and taxi services on race days.
Leicester Horse Racing Tips
Leicester is a right handed oval track of nearly two miles in circumference. It has a run in of over half a mile and the last two furlongs are uphill. The going can get particularly testing at Leicester and stamina certainly comes into play. Many of the top flat stables like to race their slow maturing two-year-olds in the maiden races here towards the end of the season. When assessing your Leicester betting tips, note that there is a slight draw bias in favour of low numbers in races up to a mile.
Leicester Horse Racing History
Leicester racecourse in Oadby was opened in 1883 but racing had previously taken place at Victoria Park since 1773. The racecourse grounds cover 220 acres of splendid Leicestershire countryside. In 1889 two of the richest races in the UK were held at Leicester. The Prince of Wales’s Stakes and the Portland Stakes were more valuable than any of the Classic races at that time.
Leicester was the scene of a dramatic attempted coup in the 1982 Flockton Grey ringer case. The grey two-year-old did not feature in any Leicester horse racing tips but was heavily backed down to 10-1. A grey three-year-old called Good Hand had been substituted for Flockton Grey, winning unchallenged by 20 lengths. The unusually wide margin of his victory immediately sparked suspicion and a full investigation was launched. The owner was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and warned off from any involvement in horse racing for 25 years.
A new glass fronted grandstand was opened in 1997 and the Nelson Suite Restaurant followed in 2006. In 2014 a new 700sq metre event space was created, known as The Kube. The racecourse can now provide for conferences and events on a grand scale.
The King Richard III Stakes
The King Richard III Stakes is the highlight of the flat racing season at Leicester and takes place in April. Leicester currently stages 31 meetings per year, 20 on the flat before switching to 11 National Hunt meetings from November onwards. The Bank Holiday Fun Day at the end of May is always popular along with regular evening meetings during the summer and a Sunday Family Fun Day in mid-August. The Leicestershire Silver Fox Handicap Chase takes place in December and the track also hosts several Hunter Chases.
Leicester Races
The most valuable race at Leicester is the Listed King Richard III Stakes over seven furlongs. It is open to horses aged four years and upwards. It was originally called the Philip Cornes Trophy Stakes and became the Leicestershire Stakes in 1983. It was elevated to Group 3 status in 1999 but reverted to Listed class five years’ later.
In 2013 it adopted its present title following the discovery of the remains of King Richard III, buried under a Leicester car park. The race carried prize money of £60,000 in 2018. The highlight of the National Hunt season at Leicester is the Silver Fox Handicap Chase over two and a half miles.
Leicester's Famous Races and Racehorses
James Fanshawe’s Warningford was a great favourite among Leicester racing tips. He won the King Richard III Stakes three times between 1999 and 2002. Young Ern (1995 and 1996) and Home of The Brave (2016 and 2017) each won the race twice. The winner in 1979 was former 2000 Guineas winner Roland Gardens, trained by Duncan Sasse and ridden by Greville Starkey. Other notable winners include Foveros (1980), Belmont Bay (1981), Shalford (1992) and Tillerman (2003).
You would not expect to see too many Classic winners among your Leicester tips but two subsequent Epsom Oaks winners also raced here. Time Charter (1982) and Diminuendo (1988) both won at Leicester earlier in their racing careers. Time Charter was trained by Henry Candy and made only her second career start here in 1981. She won comfortably over six furlongs but did not really blossom until her three-year-old career. She finished second to On The House in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket before beating the Barry Hills-trained pair Slightly Dangerous and Last Feather in the Oaks.
Diminuendo was one of the first crop of foals sired by Diesis and made a brilliant racecourse debut at Leicester in 1987. She was trained by Henry Cecil and ridden by Willie Ryan, overcoming a slow start to win by 10 lengths. Diminuendo won the Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks as a three-year-old before finishing second in the St Leger.
1982 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Silver Buck also graced the Leicestershire turf when winning over hurdles during the 1977-78 season. He was trained by Michael Dickinson and featured in the trainers’ amazing first five home in the 1983 Gold Cup. He finished fourth behind Bregawn, Captain John and Wayward Lad with Ashley House completed the famous five.
Teeton Mill was a popular grey who won Hunter Chases, including here at Leicester in 1997, before going on to big race glory. Venetia Williams trained him to win the Hennessy Gold Cup and the King George VI Chase. He started favourite for the 1999 Cheltenham Gold Cup but was pulled up after making several uncharacteristic jumping errors. He was found to have dislodged a tendon and never raced again, serving as a hack for his trainer and enjoying a long retirement.
Leicester Betting Tips
Richard Fahey and Mark Johnston are the leading trainers on the flat at Leicester. Fahey shows a useful level stakes profit over the past three seasons. It also pays to follow the runners from the Mick Channon stable.
Three flat jockeys have outstanding recent records at Leicester. Silvestre de Sousa, Paul Hanagan and Fran Berry have all yielded a level stakes profit and rate among our best horse racing tips for Leicester today.
Trainer Tom George has a fine record with his chasers here. Over the past three years all but three of his seventeen runners have either won or been placed. Robin Dickin and Fergal O’Brien have also enjoyed plenty of success over fences. Henry Daly is the trainer to follow over hurdles along with Nigel Twiston-Davies. The leading jockeys over jumps are Adrian Heskin and Sam Twiston-Davies.