Cork betting with William Hill

Cork is a popular dual-purpose racecourse in Mallow, County Cork that stages racing all year round.

Cork stages National Hunt racing through the winter before switching to the Flat from May onwards, staging a total of 18 fixtures each year.

Racing has taken place at Cork since 1924, with the track originally known as Mallow Racecourse.

The track itself is situated around 35km north of Cork and 64km from Limerick.

Mallow is just a few miles down the road from the location of the first ever ‘steeplechase’, with Edmund Blake and Cornelius O'Callaghan racing each other on horseback from the church at Buttevant to the church at Doneraile in 1752.

The biggest Cork betting day falls in December, when the track stages three Graded contests on what’s always a hugely popular day with local racegoers.

Cork betting – the big meetings/races

Cork’s biggest race day of the year falls in early to mid-December, when the track stages three Graded races on the same afternoon.

The Hilly Way Chase is the only Grade 2 contest run at Cork all year, so takes centre stage on the afternoon, but is supported by a pair of high-profile contests, the Grade 3 Irish EBF Mares Novice Chase and the Grade 3 Stayers Novice Hurdle.

The Hilly Way Stakes has been won by National Hunt stars like Beef Or Salmon (twice) and Golden Silver (three times) in recent years.

This hugely popular card is without doubt the most competitive Cork betting day of the entire year.

The Grade 3 Imperial Call Chase, named after the 1996 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, takes centre stage at Cork’s late March/early April National Hunt meeting. This 3m contest was temporarily renamed the Dr Vincent O'Brien Centenary Chase in 2017.

The Munster Oaks, a Group 3 contest for fillies and mares, run in June, is one of most competitive Group 3 contests run anywhere in Ireland, so much so that no favourite won the race for the six years between 2013 and 2018.

The other major Flat race at Cork is the Group 3 Give Thanks Stakes, another contest for fillies and mares (three-year-olds and up) which takes place a little later in the summer.

This prestigious contest has been dominated by two trainers in recent years, with Aidan O’Brien and Dermot Weld winning every edition of the race between 2012 and 2018.

Cork odds – impact on ante-post betting for future races

The Munster Oaks sits perfectly in the calendar for any filly with Classic aspirations as it falls around three-to-four weeks before the Irish Oaks at The Curragh.

Any three-year-old filly that impresses at Cork tends to head to that Group 1 contest, but older fillies also have a Group 1 option at that Curragh meeting, the Pretty Polly Stakes.

The Give Me Thanks Stakes falls quite late in the year, but there are still some big autumn races for fillies who can win that Group 3 contest.

The Qipco British Champions Fillies' & Mares' Stakes at Ascot is an obvious target and one that was passed with flying colours by Sapphire in 2012.

2018 winner Sizzling was sent to Doncaster for the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes on her next start, before finishing down the field behind stablemate Magical at Ascot.

The big Jumps race at Cork, the Hilly Way Stakes, is normally won by a horse who then heads to Leopardstown for the Grade 1, 2m1f chase on December 27^th.

The Stayers Novice Hurdle is often won by a horse who switches to fences the following year, but if they do decide to stick to hurdles, a race like the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham would be an obvious spring target.

Cork course characteristics

Cork is a flat, right-handed oval circuit that is split into two. There’s a 10f inner circuit and a 12f outer track, while a 2f chute at the entrance to the home straight, that facilitates the start of 6f and 5f races on the Flat.

Horses caught napping are on the back foot from an early stage and, more often than not, struggle to get back into contention. Horses with tactical speed do well at Cork, and they need special attention when studying William Hill’s Cork betting lists.

The general feeling with Cork is that it’s difficult to make up ground from off the pace, so horses that can either make the running or at least race prominently are favoured.

Runners in races over 1m4f hit a right-hand turn after around a furlong-and-a-half so it is often imperative to gain a good early position in such races.

Hard luck stories are plentiful on the sprint track as the field tend to congregate up the stands’ rail, causing traffic problems for the hold-up horses, when the ground is on the quick side. It’s a different story on soft ground as the runners tend to spread across the track.

Cork betting tips

Aidan O’Brien is peerless when it comes to saddling winners at Cork, so much so that in the three-year period between 2016 and 2018, the master of Ballydoyle trained at least twice as many winners as all bar Dermot Weld, who is clear second best in the Cork winner count.

O’Brien has dominated the Munster Oaks in recent years, winning four of the five editions between 2014 and 2018. Prior to that, it was Dermot Weld that ruled the roost in the Group 3 contest.

Weld won the race with Sapphire in 2012, a progressive filly who also won the Give Thanks Stakes at the track later in the year, before rounding off that season by winning the Qipco British Champions Fillies' & Mares' Stakes at Ascot in October.

When it comes to National Hunt racing at Cork, the big two trainers in Ireland dominate. Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott have saddled more Cork winners over fences, hurdles and in bumpers than any other trainer in recent years.

When it comes to bumpers, Patrick Mullins has been a cashpoint for Cork betting enthusiasts in recent years. His strike-rate in NHF races at the track is, remarkably, close to 50%.

Cork racecourse – how to get there

Racegoers heading to the course from Cork city centre or Limerick (N20) should go under the railway bridge at the roundabout in Mallow town.

If travelling from Dublin or Waterford (N72 and N73) take the town park bypass to reach the roundabout. The racecourse is on the right out the Killarney road.

Mallow railway station is served by trains from Cork, Dublin, Tralee and Killarney. There is a free shuttle bus service to and from the racecourse, before the meeting starts and when it’s over.

Trains also run regularly from Cork Station (located on lower Glanmire Road).

A bus service runs from Cork to Mallow every hour at 25 minutes past the hour. There is a free shuttle bus service to and from the town park to all race meetings.

Boost your Cork betting experience

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