Worcester betting with William Hill

Worcester is a National Hunt racecourse which stages meetings from May through to October. Popular Worcester betting races include the Valerie Lewis Memorial Chase, named in honour of the co-owner of three times Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate.

The track celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2018 and notable past Worcester winners include Morley Street and Iris’s Gift.

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Betting at Worcester – the big meetings

Worcester now hosts around 20 race days per year. The highlights include the popular Ladies Day in June along with two Family Fun Days in June and September.

A new Saturday evening fixture was introduced in June 2019. Worcester racecourse is also a venue for conferences and events and is now part of the Arena Racing Company.

Worcester betting – the big races

The big Worcester betting race of the season used to be the Worcester Grand Annual before the event was closed in 1933. It was one of the most important Grand National Trials of the season.

Its inaugural winner in 1836 was ridden by Captain Becher, now remembered by the famous Becher’s Brook at Aintree. Bourton won the Grand Annual in 1853 and the Aintree Grand National in 1854.

Other Worcester betting links with Aintree can be found in West Tip (1986) and Pineau De Re (2014). West Tip was trained in Droitwich by Michael Oliver and was himself the subject of plenty of Worcester tips when winning for Richard Dunwoody.

Pineau De Re was also trained locally, in Claines by Dr Richard Newland. He was one of only 12 horses in the stable when winning at 25-1 under Leighton Aspell. He described training as “a hobby” and was thrilled just to have a horse good enough to run at Aintree.

The Worcester Grand Annual Chase was revived in 2018 to celebrate the 300 year anniversary of Worcester racecourse.

The main modern day Worcester betting races are the Valerie Lewis Memorial Handicap Chase and the Richard Davis Memorial Novices’ Handicap Chase.

Valerie Lewis was the co-owner of triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate (2002-2004), along with her husband Jim. They lived in Worcester and the two and a half mile contest is staged in June.

Richard Davis was a young National Hunt jockey who tragically died following a fall at Southwell in 1996. This race is over the same distance and is held at the start of the winter jumps season.

Worcester proved the perfect venue for a Cheltenham Festival prep race for Croco Bay in 2019. He had won here in 2016 and returned to finish second at the July meeting.

He did not race again until the Grand Annual Chase in March, a race in which he had previously finished third and fifth. Croco Bay recorded a stunning 66-1 victory for trainer Ben Case and jockey Kielan Woods.

Worcester betting tips

Trainer Jonjo O’Neill does well at Worcester, particularly with his chasers. Dan Skelton and Philip Hobbs are other trainers to note for your Worcester tips. Nicky Henderson often features in Worcester bets in National Hunt flat races where he maintains a good strike rate.

Champion jockey Richard Johnson is regularly among the winners and has a particularly good record over hurdles. Aidan Coleman is the jockey to follow over fences for your Worcester bets.

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Worcester betting - course characteristics

Worcester is a flat, left-handed oval course of about 13 furlongs. There are nine fences to be jumped on each circuit including four in the home straight.

It is generally considered one of the easiest jumping courses in the country and ideally suited to inexperienced novices. When conditions are on the fast side, you should note horses who like to race up with the pace for your Worcester bets.

The racecourse is situated by the east bank of the River Severn and has suffered from flooding in the past. The floods in 2007 led to the abandonment of all meetings here after the end of June. It has become increasing popular as a summer jumping course in recent seasons.

Famous Worcester races and racehorses

Morley Street won a novice chase here in 1990 for Toby Balding and Jimmy Frost. He was surprisingly beaten in his next two races over fences and returned to hurdling, winning the 1991 Cheltenham Champion Hurdle.

His other career wins included four successive victories in the Aintree Hurdle (1990 – 1993) and two Breeders’ Cup Steeplechases (1990, 1991).

Iris’s Gift won his first two races at Worcester before going on to win the Stayers Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2004. The grey made a winning debut in a bumper here in August 2001 and followed up the following month, ridden on both occasions by Ben Hitchcott.

Other notable jumping horses to have raced here include Mandarin, Tingle Creek, Silver Buck and Wayward Lad.

Worcester horse racing history

Horse racing has taken place at Worcester since 1718, making it one of the oldest racecourses in the country.

The racecourse is sited at an area known locally as Pitchcroft which also used to be home to the Worcester Rugby Club and Worcester City Football Club.

Flat and jump racing meetings were held here until 1966 when it became exclusively a National Hunt course. Sir Gordon Richards rode his 2,000th winner at Worcester, eventually retiring with 4,870 winners to his name.

Other top flat jockeys to have ridden here include Fred Archer and Lester Piggott. Notable Worcester betting races on the flat included the Worcester Stakes and the Worcester Gold Cup.

Worcester became the home of Britain’s first sponsored steeplechase in 1951. The Worcester Royal Porcelain Chase preceded the sponsored Hennessy Gold Cup and Whitbread Gold Cup by six years.

Worcester set an unusual record in January 1965 when 229 runners were engaged in an eight-race card. The meeting was swamped with entries (658 in total) after a long dry spell finally came to an end in December. There were as many as 34 runners in some of the races.

HRH The Princess Royal featured in plenty of Worcester bets when riding her own horse Cnoc Na Cuille to victory in the Droitwich Handicap Chase in 1987. She rode the horse to finish second to Donaghmoyne in August and returned the following month to beat Tiger Ted by half a length.

Worcester celebrated its 300 year anniversary on 4th July 2018 with The Princess Royal in attendance. The occasion attracted 2,000 racegoers on a gloriously sunny day.

There were plenty of Worcester tips for the revived Grand Annual Handicap Chase but most were unsuccessful with victory going to 22-1 outsider Bestwork.

Worcester Racecourse - how to get there

The racecourse is in the heart of Worcester city centre and is easily accessible by all forms of transport. Road travellers arriving from the north or south should take junction 6 off the M5 and follow the A449 towards the city centre.

The racecourse is clearly sign posted as soon as you reach Worcester. There is free car parking at the centre course enclosure. Worcester Foregate Street Station is 10 minutes’ walk from the racecourse. Worcester Shrubhill Station is 20 minutes’ walk or a short taxi ride from the track.