Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city and market town which sits on the River Wye in Herefordshire in the west of England. It sits close to the equally historic cities of Gloucester and Worcester. Herefordshire itself is very pretty. Hereford was given a town charter by Richard I in 1189. The (beautiful) cathedral dates from the early 12th century and has been well maintained.

Hereford has been the setting for many historical battles during it’s history. These include hostilities between the Anglo-Saxons and Welsh, The Battle of Mortimer Cross during the War Of The Roses and a number of battles during the English Civil War.

Among the industries in this area, Hereford is particularly renowned for Cider and Beer and of course Hereford Cattle. Hereford does have military connections too and most notably as being the base for the SAS.

There’s quite a few places to eat, drink and be merry as local guides will attest.

If visiting the county and if you have time, there are a few places worth visiting.

Hereford Cathedral – https://www.herefordcathedral.org

Mappa Mundi & Chained Library Exhibitions – https://www.herefordcathedral.org/mappa-mundi-and-chained-library-exhibition

Hereford Cider Museum – http://www.cidermuseum.co.uk

Chase Distillery – https://chasedistillery.co.uk

Plenty more too

The Racecourse

Hereford Racecourse hosts only National Hunt Racing.

Hereford is a right-handed, sharpish and generally flat circuit of about a mile and a half. It is roughly square in shape and the bends are easy, except the turn for home which is on falling ground. The first fence after the stands is taken while turning. This is a course that suits speedy types.

The course closed in 2012 but was reopened again in Autumn 2016.

Clerk of the course: Tim Long

Course telephone number: 01432 273560

Getting Here

Hereford is 142 miles from Central London, 58 miles from Birmingham, 66 miles from Bristol, 59 miles from Cardiff, 135 miles from Manchester and 330 miles from Edinburgh.

The racecourse is situated about a mile from the city centre just off A49 Leominster Road

The course post code is HR4 9QU

Course parking is free.

The nearest railway station is Hereford Station which is about a mile away.

Racecourse facilities

Course website: https://www.hereford-racecourse.co.uk/

Disabled access: https://www.hereford-racecourse.co.uk/plan-your-visit/racecourse-facilities/

Just the one enclosure at Hereford and for which there is no dress code. The view from the stands is very good and it is also possible to view from inside the bar at the top of the grandstand.

The Paddock Bar at the top of the Grandstand is the main bar available to people. There is also a bar for owners and trainers and a small little outside bar at the edge of the betting ring called ‘The Major’. There are enough opportunities to buy hot and cold food in the bars and in vans around the back of the stand by the parade ring.

My Day

Hereford, is very local to me and just like Ludlow, it makes a nice change not to have to travel two far, just 20 minutes in fact. Today was ‘Locals Day’ at the course and as a result, anyone booking online who had a local postcode could avail themselves of the ‘Locals two for 1 offer’. A really good idea I reckon.

Six races today, I stayed for four and had one bet and one winner so left with a good attitude.

The fourth race on the card was a Novice Hurdle over two miles and the field were headed by the Oliver Sherwood trained What’s Occurring ridden by Leighton Aspell. He had run in three Novice Hurdles last season and shown some promise without winning. He then began this season here at Hereford winning a Maiden Hurdle. His main market rival was the Debra Hamer trained Super Scorpion, an eight year old who has been mainly chasing the last three seasons and who had won a couple but had never won over hurdles. Today, he had the services of Champion Richard Johnson and he made the running until blundering two out when passed and outpaced by What’s Occurring who, thankfully, powered away to win comfortably by 8 lengths. The winner was returned 4/6F and I was grateful to have got on at 5/4 last night.

Off to the North East on Thursday and really looking forward to it!