Mainland Britain is home to a total of 59 racecourses, which are spread, more or less, throughout the length and breadth of the country. The most northerly of them, at a latitude of 56.42°, is Perth Racecourse, which is situated in Scone Palace Park, north of the city of Perth in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. Perth Racecourse exclusively stages National Hunt racing, between April and September, with the three-day Perth Festival, in late April, being the seasonal highlight.
At the other end of mainland Britain, approximately 500 miles from Perth, at a latitude of 50.54°, Newton Abbot Racecourse, on the northern edge of the market town of the same name in South Devon, has the distinction of being the most southerly horse racing venue in the country. Like Perth, Newton Abbot is a summer jumps course, whose season lasts from April until October.
East of the International Reference Meridian (IRM), at a longitude of 1.73°, Great Yarmouth Racecourse, just north of the seaside resort town on the coast of Norfolk, East Anglia, is the most easterly racecourse in the country. Unlike Perth and Newton Abbot, Great Yarmouth is a Flat-only course but, like them, has a season designed primarily for holidaymakers and tourists, between April and October. The seasonal highlight is the three-day Eastern Festival, which features the John Musker Fillies’ Stakes, in September.
The most westerly racecourse on mainland Britain is a close call between two dual-purpose courses, Ayr, on the southwest coast of Scotland, and Ffos Las, in the former mining village of Trimsaran in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. Ayr, with a longitude of -4.62°, is marginally more westerly than Ffos Las, which has a longitude of -4.24°. Billed as ‘Scotland’s Premier Racecourse’, Ayr is best known for the Scottish Grand National and the Ayr Gold Cup.