Synonymous with the King George VI Chase, staged annually on Boxing Day, Kempton Park is situated on the A308, known locally as Staines Road East, in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey. At a distance of 16 miles, it has the distinction of being the closest racecourse to the City of London and, since the Flat turf course was replaced with Polytrack in 2006, has become one of the busiest courses in the country. For those taking a break from the best casino bonus in usa casinous, this racecourse is certainly a fun spot to be!
A right-handed, practically flat course, Kempton Park was established in 1878, by the recently-incorporated Kempton Park Race Course Company Limited. The company actually had seven original shareholders, but just one of them, Samuel Henry Hyde, is generally considered the founding father of the racecourse. The first meeting at Kempton Park was held on July 18, 1878.
Sandown Park, on the other hand, is situated on Portsmouth Road in Esher, Surrey, approximately six miles southeast of Kempton Park and approximately 17 miles southwest of the City of London. Nowadays, Sandown is renowned as the home of the Coral-Eclipse, which was inaugurated in 1886, at the time under the auspices of Leopold de Rothschild, and the Bet365 Gold Cup, formerly the Whitbread Gold Cup, which was established in 1957.
An essentially galloping course, with a stiff uphill finish, Sandown had the distinction of being the first modern, purpose-built racecourse in the country and the first to charge an admission fee (of half a crown, or 2/6, which is the equivalent of approximately £8 in modern terms). Under the auspices of Sir Wilford Brett, the brother of Sir William Brett (later Viscount Esher), and brothers Owen and Hwfa Williams, Sandown Park was developed on farmland attached to Sandown House. The first race meeting at the venue took place on April 22, 1875.