Lingfield

Lingfield is a town in Surrey, just south of London.

It’s history dates back to Anglo Saxon times. The town includes the Grade I listed St Peter & St Paul church, originally built in 14th century. There are a number of other listed buildings in Lingfield too.

There are lots of accommodation, eating houses and watering holes in this area for those wanting to satay over.

Nearby racecourses are Kempton Park, Sandown Park, Plumpton, Fontwell, Goodwood and Brighton as well as Lingfield Park itself.

Lingfield Park Racecourse

Lingfield Park Racecourse stages both Flat Racing and National Hunt Racing on turf and also Flat Racing on an All Weather surface.

ALL-WEATHER FLAT RACING: Lingfield’s left-handed all-weather track is  inside the turf track. The mile and a quarter track is mainly flat, sharp and suits strong travelling types  Lingfield’s surface is Polytrack. I have read a lot about the draw bias here with many suggesting that being drawn high is a definite disadvantage and some saying there is no bias at all. The stats I’ve seen don’t suggest a huge bias and I have certainly backed winners drawn high here. So I will leave it open……….!

TURF FLAT RACING: The turf track is left handed, sharp and about a mile and a half around. It joins the 7.5f straight just under 4f out. There is a downhill turn into the straight and those stealing an advantage at this point are often hard to catch. In races run on the straight 5f/6f/7f, the bias towards those drawn high is massive and even to the point where the very highest drawn themselves have an overall advantage.

TURF NATIONAL HUNT: The jumps track is also left handed and is both sharp and undulating. Usually a handy position turning for home will pay dividends. The fences are easy enough and Lingfield boasts one of the lower casualty rates.

NHF / Bumper races are most often run on the all-weather track in recent years and are consequently often falsely run.

Clerk of the course: George Hill

Course telephone number: 01342 834800

Email address: info@lingfieldpark.co.uk

Full address: Lingfield Park Racecourse, Surrey RH7 6PQ

Getting Here

Lingfield is 27 miles from Central London, 153 miles from Birmingham, 110 miles from Cardiff, 188 miles from Manchester and 394 miles from Edinburgh.

The racecourse is south east of the town on B2028 Edenbridge Road. The nearest motorway junctions are M23 – J9 and M25 J6.

The course post code is RH7 6PQ.

Course parking is free.

Lingfield railway station is a mere few minutes walk from the course.

Racecourse facilities

Course website: https://www.lingfieldpark.co.uk/

Disabled access: https://www.lingfieldpark.co.uk/lingfield-park/accessibility/

For most meetings, there is just the one combined enclosure though facility is there to divide a Premier Enclosure and Grandstand and Paddock enclosure. The dress code is not at all strict though the course encourage gentlemen to wear collared shirts.

There is plenty of food and drink outlets on the course though they don’t all open for every meeting. The website (link below) lists everything:

https://www.lingfieldpark.co.uk/raceday-experience/food-and-drink/

I used the fish and chip shop behind the stands and it was very plentiful and nice to eat.

There is lots of space here and plenty of room for viewing

Similarly, there is plenty of space behind the grandstands to move around near the parade ring. It is very well laid out and well kept

My Day

There wasn’t a bad crowd today for a cold Tuesday of jumping. I’ve certainly seen much smaller for midweek all-weather racing. It’s a nice course with plenty of space and places to eat and drink. I do like coming here. My betting day could have been better though.

The second race on todays card is a Class 4 Handicap Chase. My eye is first drawn to the Venetia Williams trained Air De Rock, a stable that couldn’t be in better form. Last time out, he failed by the minimum margin to win having fought back when headed. There is a live danger in Early Du Lemo. His jumping hasn’t been the greatest but between unseating twice, he ran a fine race finishing second in a better race at Newbury despite clouting the last. The Barry Brennan trained Lightentertainment won well last time and now carries an extra 8lbs up in class and while I wouldn’t totally dismiss him, it will be difficult. I’m happy to take Evens about Air De Rock.

As the race unfolded, Early Du Lemo made the running and in the main jumped quite well. He made the odd mistake but his jumping was plenty good enough and help him to a victory by a couple of lengths from the favourite, the pair clear. Air De Rock tracked the winner all the way and tried to challenge the winner in the straight but never had the pace to go past.

I thought Venetia Williams may have had another chance of a winner in the final race, a Class 5 Handicap Hurdle for amateur riders with her entry Arqalina though at 7/4 (at time of writing, it’s a bit short for me with so many unknowns in what seems to be a poor race. My pal @genuinetriers has put up a decent case for Primogeniture however and I’m having a bit of each way. Neither won and as I had already left the course at this point I have no first hand insight as to how the race unfolded.

So another day without a winner and we go to Plumpton tomorrow afternoon.