Market Rasen betting with William Hill

Market Rasen is a popular racecourse in Lincolnshire that stages National Hunt racing all year round.

The right-handed rectangular-shaped circuit has a circumference of around 1m2f and is regarded as one of the fairest and well-maintained racetracks in the country.

Market Rasen, owned by Jockey Club Racecourses and broadcast via Racing TV, stages around 22 meetings through the year and is one of the few tracks to stage a meeting in every calendar month.

The major summer attraction at Market Rasen is Summer Plate day in July, a high-class mid-summer jumps card that features the Listed Summer Plate Handicap Chase, which was worth almost £50,000 in 2018.

The course became the focus of the racing world in 2014 when Tony McCoy surpassed Martin Pipe’s career record of 4,191 winners with victory in the Summer Plate on It’s A Gimme.

Market Rasen betting – the big meetings/races

The big summer contest staged is the Summer Plate Handicap Chase, a Listed (since 2005) contest for four-year-olds and up, run over 2m5f. It attracts the best chasers that run through the summer months and is always one of the most competitive Market Rasen betting events of the entire year.

2008 winner Snoopy Loopy, a third successive winner of the race for trainer Peter Bowen, went on to win the Grade 1 Betfair Chase at Haydock Park later that year.

Sir Anthony McCoy won the race four times, twice for his employer JP McManus aboard Nostringsattached and It’s A Gimme.

The Listed Summer Handicap Hurdle also takes place on Summer Plate day and is normally a hotly-contested event won by a smart hurdler. 2005 winner Buena Vista went on to finish a close third in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham the following March.

Buena Vista’s victory was the last of three in the Summer Hurdle for trainer Martin Pipe.

The Prelude Handicap Hurdle was created in 2007 and is a Listed event run in September. The 2m contest is often won by a horse working his way through the ranks to Graded company or biding his time over hurdles before switching to the bigger obstacles.

The Prelude Handicap Chase, sponsored by Elixir Bathrooms in 2018, is a 2m5f chase for four-year-olds and up and has held Listed status since 2008.

Wales-based trainer Peter Bowen won the race three years in succession between 2007 and 2009, with three different horses ridden by three different jockeys.

Market Rasen odds – impact on ante-post betting for future races

The Summer Plate has been won by some very smart chasers, ones that go on to contest a Graded event later in the year, providing they can handle winter ground as well.

2008 winner Snoopy Loopy went on to run with great credit in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree and the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby, both Grade 2 events, before causing a 33/1 upset in the Grade 1 Betfair Chase.

Yes Sir is one of several novice winners of the Summer Plate, but he wasn’t able to cope with the step up to Grade 1 company despite being sent off favourite for the Feltham Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

The Summer Hurdle can throw up a useful horse, as in 2013 when Sea Lord provided the first of two wins in the race for trainer John Ferguson.

Sea Lord picked up a Listed event at Kempton en route to the Sky Bet Supreme Trial Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham’s November meeting, where he could finish only second, despite going off a well-backed even-money favourite.

2017 Summer Hurdle winner John Constable got within two lengths of dual Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D’Air in the Contenders Hurdle at Sandown, before finding the competition too hot in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham the following month.

Palomar was an unconsidered 20/1 chance in the Market Rasen betting, but it didn’t stop him winning the Prelude Hurdle in decent style for trainer Brian Ellison before going on to land one of Musselburgh’s jumping highlights, the Weatherbys Bloodstock Insurance Willie Park Trophy Handicap.

Market Rasen course characteristics

Market Rasen is a right-handed slightly undulating National Hunt course with sharp bends and a home straight of just under 3f.

The fences, of which there are three in the home straight, are considered to be fairly easy.

The track tends to suit horses that can travel and quicken off the home turn, with many races, whether it be over fences or hurdles, won by a horse who quickens clear on the downhill section between the home turn and the first obstacle in the straight.

Because the third-last fence comes on a slight downhill section, it means horses can be caught out if meeting it on the wrong stride.

Despite the fact that the course generally suits nippier types, the long run-in means that the ability to see the trip out well is also key, especially as the ground can get testing at Market Rasen.

Market Rasen betting tips

Peter Bowen has a tremendous record in the Summer Plate and combined with son Sean to win the race for a sixth time with More Buck’s in 2018.

Bowen’s impressive record at the Lincolnshire venue extends to the Prelude Handicap Chase, which he won three times in succession from 2007 to 2009.

Philip Hobbs and Richard Johnson have combined to win that contest twice and are a combination to keep onside when studying William Hill’s Market Rasen betting lists.

Dan Skelton has quickly established himself as one of the leading trainers at Market Rasen and rarely leaves the track without saddling a winner. Between 2013 and 2018 Skelton established himself as the winning-most trainer at the track.

He regularly teams up with brother Harry to plunder Market Rasen prize money.

Mary Reveley won the Summer Plate in 2000 with Foundry Lane, 15 years before her son and grandson (Keith and James) combined to win the race with Brave Spartacus.

Market Rasen racecourse – how to get there

Market Rasen racecourse is located on the east side of the town, alongside the A631 (signposted Market Rasen). The track is well-signposted from the A46, which runs from Newark North Gate Train Station all the way to the course.

If travelling from the M1, exit at junction 24 and then follow the A52 from Nottingham before taking the A46 to Newark. If travelling via the M18, exit onto the M180 and then take the A15 signposted Lincoln, before turning onto the A631 to Market Rasen.

There is ample free car parking around the track, with preferential parking areas for disabled visitors who have Blue Badge parking labels.

Market Rasen train station is around 1.3 miles from the course, with taxis regularly available from the station.

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