Yarmouth betting with William Hill
Yarmouth is the only racecourse situated in the East Anglian county of Norfolk. It’s a flat racing course owned by Arena Leisure that staged 23 fixtures in 2019.
Racing at Yarmouth dates back to 1715 but thoroughbred meetings didn’t begin to take place until 1810 when a regular summer two-day meeting became a regular fixture.
The track was originally situated on the South Denes but was forced to move to the adjacent North Denes in 1920 because of pressure from the local fishing industry to expand its premises onto land on the South Denes.
It’s two original grandstands were both moved to the new site and remain in use to this day.
Yarmouth became part of the Arena Racing Company in 2012 and is one of the most popular Flat racing venues broadcast on Sky Sports Racing. William Hill have all the action covered with the best Yarmouth betting odds and offers throughout the summer.
The track has played host to some of the great thoroughbreds of the modern era, not least the mighty Dubai Millennium who won his maiden on debut at Yarmouth in 1998.
This seaside venue hosts regular music nights as well as a ladies’ night at its mid-July meeting.
Yarmouth betting – the big meetings/races
Yarmouth doesn’t stage any Group races but it does provide a whole host of informative maiden and novice events that are often won by horses who go on to win at Group level.
The most valuable race at the track all year is the John Musker Fillies’ Stakes, a Listed contest for three-year-olds and upwards over 1m2f that is the centrepiece of Yarmouth’s three-day Easter meeting.
This prestigious contest, which carried a purse of £50,00 0 in 2018, has been won by some high-class fillies since its inception in 1993, not least So Mi Dar, winner of the race in 2016 before being sent off an odds-on chance in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at Chantilly on next start.
Recent winners include Talmada, Hadaatha, Miss You Too, Principal Role, Nashmiah, and Cape Amber. Yarmouth was also the venue for seven-time Group 1-winning filly Ouija Board to shed her maiden tag.
Remarkably, in 2012 Semayyel defied huge Yarmouth odds of 125-1 when storming to a five-length success for trainer Clive Brittain. Heavily backed odds-on market leader Timepiece trailed in 12th of 13 in what proved a particularly good race for the layers.
Yarmouth odds – impact on ante-post betting for future races
Maidens and novice races at Yarmouth are some of the most informative contests of that type anywhere in the country and regularly produce well-bred two and three-year-olds that go on to prove themselves at stake level.
Because of its location and the fair nature of the straight track, Yarmouth is a hugely popular venue for Newmarket-based trainers, including big guns like Gosden, Stoute, Varian and Haggas.
All have sent stacks of improving young horses to Yarmouth and all are hugely popular figures in Yarmouth betting lists.
The Listed John Musker Fillies’ Stakes is usually contested by improving fillies that prove capable of holding their own at Group level in time, but because the 10-furlong contest falls in the autumn, options that season are not as plentiful as they would have been earlier in the year.
ParisLongchamp’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at the Arc meeting is a big hike in class but it was the next port of call for 2016 heroine So Mi Dar who never got to fulfil her considerable potential.
The Fillies’ & Mares’ contest on Champions Day at Ascot would also be a possible target, as would the Filly & Mare Turf race at the Breeders’ Cup.
Without Parole was a fast-improving three-year-old colt trained by John Gosden and he won a Yarmouth novice event by six lengths in the spring of 2018 before going on to Group 1 glory in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot a couple of months later.
Yarmouth betting - course characteristics
Yarmouth is a left-handed oval track of around 1m5f in distance. It has a long run-in of around five-and-a-half furlongs, with a separate 1m straight course.
It’s regarded as flat with long galloping straights, but with fairly tight turns at both the top and leaving the back into the home straight.
The home straight was resurfaced in 2015 to remove any undulations, so is now one of the fairest straights in the country.
No significant draw bias in straight-course races exists, but it sometimes pays to be boxed near the stands’ rail when the stalls are on the near side of the track, which is often the case.
The field tends to bunch up towards the rail and that can often cause trouble in-running for hold-up horses up the rail.
Prominent races drawn near the rail who can get out in front are often quite hard to peg back, something that needs bearing in mind when studying William Hill’s Yarmouth betting odds.
In races over 1m1f the field hit a left-hand turn within a furlong, so horses drawn on the outside can be at disadvantage if they don’t have the gate speed to get a handy early position, especially as the field are on the turn for another furlong or so.
Yarmouth betting tips
Newmarket trainers rule the roost at Yarmouth, especially big guns like John Gosden, William Haggas and Roger Varian, who all have powerful strings and who all tend to introduce some of their more promising juveniles at the seaside track.
William Haggas has a particularly strong record with his runners at Yarmouth, showing a significant level-stakes profit in recent years. His contenders always need to be scrutinised when studying William Hill’s Yarmouth betting lists.
Frankie Dettori doesn’t ride at Yarmouth as often as many of his fellow jockeys but he has a hugely impressive strike-rate, especially when teaming up with trainer John Gosden.
Newmarket trainers dominate at Yarmouth but two northern-based trainers that do well with their Norfolk raiders are Mark Johnston and Kevin Ryan.
Because of the galloping nature of the straight course, all run-styles can be effective. Hold-up horses often come to the fore in evenly-run contests, while prominent racers can dominate small-field events if allowed to dictate at a modest tempo.
Yarmouth racecourse – how to get there
Yarmouth racecourse is situated to the north of Great Yarmouth, heading towards Caister.
The track is accessible via the A47, with the main southern approach roads being the A11 (joining the A47 South of Norwich) and the A12 via Colchester, Ipswich and Lowestoft. There is ample free parking at the track.
For rail users, there are regular mainline services to Great Yarmouth railway station via Norwich. The station is approximately two miles from the course and taxis are available outside the station.
There is a bus service, running every 15 mins, that stops at Fremantle Road, just outside the course.
Boost your Yarmouth betting experience
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