LINGFIELD PARK RACECOURSE

New Year’s Eve All-Weather Racing

Ticket - £29 Premier Enclosure

👀 Track View - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍔 Food - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍺 Guinness - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

⭕️ Parade Ring - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🏇 Runners & Riders - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎉 Atmosphere - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Best for - Runners and Riders

We had never been racing on New Year’s Eve before, so we decided to take a spontaneous trip down to Lingfield Park Racecourse, situated in the heart of a beautiful 450-acre estate in Surrey. Lingfield is a dual-purpose track, hosting 60 fixtures a year. It features a turf track for National Hunt racing alongside the flat season in the other half of the year, plus an all-weather course for flat racing. The ticket price was £29, which is fairly reasonable given the time of year, but we felt it might be slightly high for all-weather racing.

Track View

Being based in such a beautiful area, the track has a scenic backdrop of greenery. With two courses at this track, the all-weather course is situated on the inner circuit, meaning you’re a bit further from the action, especially as the horses fly around the home bend and down the straight. This positioning doesn’t allow for a close-up view when standing by the rail. Additionally, from this spot, your view is slightly obscured when trying to see parts of the track further back. However, if you position yourself in the grandstand, specifically towards the right, you get a fantastic, unobstructed view of the entire track, away from the bookmakers’ stalls. From here, you can watch the horses go around the whole course and fully appreciate the hill they descend before wheeling into the final bend and sprinting to the finish. One particularly great viewing spot is at the 1m 4f start, where the stalls are positioned right in front of the stand, providing excellent viewing for the crowd.

Food

There were a couple of food trucks in the courtyard next to the parade ring, one offering chicken and fries and another selling burgers. However, one feature we always appreciate at a racecourse is an on-site fish and chip shop with a proper counter. We opted for Scampi & Chips, along with a jumbo battered sausage for good measure. The chips weren’t the typical chip shop-style, but they were chunky, cooked to perfection, and piping hot. The scampi was delicious, with a generous portion—something that isn’t always guaranteed with scampi, so this was a pleasant bonus. The batter on the sausage was tasty but didn’t seem particularly fresh and wasn’t as hot as the chips. A big plus for us was the sauce selection, particularly Heinz and Hellmann’s—because who doesn’t love a proper, good-quality sauce? Overall, the food was well-cooked and good value for money compared to other tracks.

Guinness

At £7.50 a pint, the Guinness was poured and left to settle for 30 seconds, which is better than not letting it settle at all. However, Guinness recommends a 120-second settle time, and while we understand this isn’t always possible during a busy race meet, it does impact our rating. The pint was reasonably creamy, with an okay head—about half the size it should be. The taste was decent but not the best we’ve had.

Parade Ring

The parade ring is positioned a short walk behind the grandstand, with the pre-parade ring located further back. The pre-parade ring allows racegoers to watch horses being saddled in the stables if their yard chooses to prepare them that way. Otherwise, you can see them begin their pre-race walking exercise. Since the pre-parade and main parade ring are so close together, you can easily follow the horses as they move from one to the other. The parade ring itself is circular, with 3/4 access for punters, allowing you to get nice and close to the horses. Viewing steps with handrails are positioned around various points. Jockeys walk across the courtyard from the weighing room, giving racegoers good access to see them. Once the jockeys receive a leg-up, they follow a chute down the side of the course from the parade ring. Spectators can follow this for a short distance before being redirected back around, meaning you can’t walk with the horses all the way to the track. The chute also runs past the customer entrance/exit, an interesting feature not commonly seen at other racecourses.

Runners & Riders

Despite the freezing winter weather, the quality of runners and riders on the card was impressive for an all-weather meeting, considering many flat jockeys prefer warmer climates at this time of year. The feature race was the Listed Quebec Stakes (1m 2f), which resulted in a thrilling two-horse battle between Royal Champion—who had been racing in Australia for Karl Burke and Clifford Lee—and Tyrrhenian Sea for Roger Varian and Jack Mitchell, who had won the race the previous year. Tyrrhenian Sea, one of the most stunning racehorses in training, certainly drew a big crowd to the parade ring to admire his unique appearance. Other jockeys on the card included Sean Levey, Hayley Turner, Luke Morris, and Hector Crouch.

Atmosphere

Despite the cold temperatures and late rain, Lingfield saw a large crowd for the day. Many families attended, likely making the most of the school holidays. While not everyone seemed to be a keen racegoer, the betting ring was busy, and the atmosphere grew louder throughout the day, with enthusiastic cheers at the finish line.

We have scored this raceday and track 3 stars across every category. There wasn’t anything specifically outstanding, but nothing major to fault either—a solid all-round option for a raceday.

• It was busy.

• There was good racing with notable jockeys.

• The track offered great views.

• The food and drink were fairly decent.

That’s the Paddock Preview for Lingfield Park!