The ‘viaduct side’ is a feature of which British racecourse?

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In short, the ‘viaduct side’ is a feature of Chester Racecourse in Cheshire, North West England. Established in 1539, Chester has the distinction of being the oldest racecourse still in operation anywhere in the world and its sharp, left-handed circuit, which is just over a mile in circumference, is the smallest in Britain. The racecourse site occupies 65 acres on the northern bank of the River Dee and flanks the Chester City Walls along the eastern edge.

The northwestern side of the course, though, is dominated by a striking feat of Victorian engineering, in the form of the Roodee Viaduct. The viaduct, which measures 108 feet in length, was built, along with the nearby Dee Bridge, in the middle of the nineteenth century to carry the Chester-Holyhead railway line across the River Dee. The original, cast iron Dee Bridge was opened for local traffic in 1846, but the following May was the site of the Dee Bridge disaster, when a locomotive plunged into the river, resulting in the death of five people and serious injury to nine more.

The Dee Bridge was subsequently rebuilt using wrought iron lattice girders, but the Roodee Viaduct has stood the test of time. Of course, Chester Racecourse is on the turn almost throughout, but the viaduct runs parallel to the course from the chute that marks the 7 furlongs and 122 yards start to the 6 furlong and 18 yards start, at which point the course turns eastward to run along the banks of the River Dee. Of course, from a practical point of view, the Roodee Viaduct and the refurbished Dee Bridge link Chester Racecourse with Curzon Park, a residential suburb on the southerm banks of the Dee. Nevertheless, the Roodee Viaduct remains an instantly recognisable landmark in the Roodee landscape.

Racecourses

Which was the first British racecourse to have a Tote facility?

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The organisation that became the Horserace Totalisor Board, a.k.a. the Tote, was originally created, as the Racehorse Betting Control Board, by then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill, in 1928. His intention was to provide an alternative to illegal off-course betting and to ensure that money from betting was put back into horse racing. The responsibility for the latter passed to the Horserace Betting Levy Board, established by the Betting Levy Act 1961 to compensate the sport for any losses following the legalisation of off-course betting shops, leading to the name change.

Nevertheless, the Tote remained a state-owned, state-controlled organisation until July 2011, when, under the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government, it was sold, along with its betting shop estate, to Betfred, the bookmaking chain founded by British billionaire businessman Fred Done, for a reported £265 million. In May 2018, a consortium of investors known as the UK Tote Group bought a 25% stake in the Tote for a reported £20 million and, in October 2019, announced that it had completed the acquisition of the organisation, minus its betting shops, for a reported £115 million.

As far as the first British racecourse to have a Tote facility is concerned, there is a certain irony in the fact that on July 2, 1929 – just a month or after Churchill had retained his Epping seat, but nonetheless been ousted from office – Carlisle Racecourse operated Tote betting for the first time anywhere in Britain. Of course, Tote betting is not for everyone, granted that, as in all forms of pool betting, punters cannot determine the odds of return when striking a bet, but, even so, remains at least as popular as ever with racegoers, especially those who wish, for whatever reason, to avoid the betting ring.

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Broadcast Experts Shine a Light on UK Racecourses

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RaceTech’s long-standing relationship with horse racing in the United Kingdom (UK) has played a massive role in promoting the sport to a wider audience.

The London-headquartered company’s passion for innovation is at the centre of its remarkable growth over the years, and it is showing no signs of slowing down.

RaceTech recently took another huge step towards redefining UK horse racing coverage by introducing a series of groundbreaking camera innovations.

This latest development will likely attract admiring glances from broadcasters overseas, whose coverage often takes inspiration from RaceTech’s innovations.

RaceTech’s Camera System Will Fire Racing Coverage into Another Stratosphere

RaceTech’s Across the Line’ camera system was developed from the equipment traditionally used in crash tests and is placed right across the finish line.

The idea is to capture detailed footage of horses crossing the finish line in slow motion at 1,000 frames per second. The camera is automated and does not require any human involvement.

It delivers the footage within 15 seconds, which will then be shown to viewers as part of the live footage. It will help officials accurately call the winner of a tight race.

RaceTech has also introduced drone footage to capture all the live action across racecourses. Taking into account the limited geographical range of drones, RaceTech have moved their operators into mobile vehicles that follow the race.

This ensures the drone is always in range and can keep the fans up to speed regardless of the length of the racecourse. Larger racecourses such as Newmarket and Ascot can now enjoy full aerial coverage for the first time.

Another innovation RaceTech recently introduced is the stables handler cam. The tech is still in the trial phase, but it will provide a unique insight into pre-race preparations.

The system delivers up-close footage of the start of the race when horses are being led into the starting stalls, which was previously unavailable.

RaceTech took things up a notch by adding audio clips for a more immersive peek behind the scenes, where viewers can also listen to handlers talk to their horses and jockeys in the build-up to the race.

Australian Broadcasters Take Inspiration from RaceTech

Widely viewed as one of the leading innovators in racing coverage, it is little wonder that many of RaceTech’s ideas inspire improvements in other jurisdictions.

These include Australia, where broadcasters Racing.com are among a plethora of companies offering extensive coverage of the Sport of Kings.

The collaborated last year with Gravity Media to broadcast the Royal Ascot meeting, and a sizeable proportion of their coverage centred around the international feed provided by RaceTech.

The partnership brought UK racing closer to Aussie fans than ever before, and inevitably triggered a spike in activity on online betting platforms.

This forced the best betting apps in Australia to ramp up their coverage of Royal Ascot and has had a knock-on effect to other UK meetings since then.

Racing.com have also taken inspiration from RaceTech’s innovations and are working towards integrating them into their coverage of Australian horse racing.

This serves to strengthen RaceTech’s position as a global leader when it comes to implementing innovative ideas in horse racing coverage.

RaceTech Will Continue to Keep Raising the bar for UK Racing

RaceTech produces live horse racing content for over 1,500 races every year and has done business with major rights holders such as ITV Racing, Sky Sports Racing and The Racing Partnership.

Aside from the role it plays in the broadcast sector, integrity services, archive management and on-course productions are also part of the comprehensive services the company offers year-round.

RaceTech is no stranger to innovation in horse racing broadcast tech. They developed their first ever photo-finish camera back in the 1940s and supplied racing’s first high-definition scanners in 2010, so they are familiar with the inner workings of the industry.

Next on the company’s to-do list is expanding its facility in Raynes Park to six production galleries, a master control room and two replay rooms.

RaceTech is keen to switch things up by handling productions remotely to increase efficiency and allow them to provide more scalable broadcasting solutions.

“We are talking to the other rights holders about bringing them on that remote production journey with us,” RaceTech chief executive officer John Bozza said.

“The spare gallery we’ve got is actually the biggest, and it could be used for a number of different things. It could be dedicated to a larger race meeting, or it could be used for another sport.”

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Cheltenham Festival Betting Preview: County Hurdle

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Of course, the Cheltenham Festival is shaped around the four, key ‘showpiece’ races, culminating with the ‘Blue Riband’ event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, on the fourth and final day. However, those races, and the other Graded and Listed events staged throughout the week, are interpersed with a series of notoriously competitive handicaps, of which the County Hurdle is arguably the most impenetrable of all.

Historically the ‘getting-out stakes’ – it was, until 2009, the final race of the Festival – the County Hurdle has lost none of its allure, as a betting medium, for being rescheduled ahead of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, as the second race on day four. Willie Mullins, the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, has been the man to follow in recent years, with five winners in the last ten runnings. Indeed, Mullins was reponsible for the only winning favourite in the last decade, State Man in 2022, but with winners at 33/1 (three times), 25/1, 20/1 and 12/1 (twice) in the same period, the County Hurdle remains, largely, a race for the bookmakers.

Unsurprisingly, the bookmakers bet 7/1 the field, ante-post, which brings in McLaurey, owned by J.P. McManus and trained by Emmet Mullins, who won a valuable Listed handicap at Leopardstown in early February. Salvador Mundi, who finished sixth in the Triumph Hurdle at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, is the shortest-priced of Mullins’ entries, at 9/1, while, at longer cheltenham festival betting odds, handicap debutante Celtic Dino (16/1), trained by Sam Thomas, makes no little appeal for the home team.

Cheltenham Festival 2025 Free Bet Offer: https://blog.betway.com/horse-racing/countdown-to-cheltenham-earn-over-pound100-in-free-bets-1/

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