Salisbury Racecourse

Salisbury Racecourse is an independent Wiltshire track which hosts Flat racing every year between April and October.

Salisbury is a right-handed, loop course. Despite the run-in of seven furlongs (with a right-handed elbow after three furlongs), those ridden handily can gain an advantage as the gallop is often on the steady side around the sharp loop section. The straight course is uphill throughout the last half-mile and rather testing, especially for early season two-year-olds, so an ability to see out the trip thoroughly is important. Races over 14f are started without stalls.

Often considered to be a good debut venue for the top stables to introduce new prospects, Salisbury is a popular destination for racing action. A young Lester Piggott made his first public appearance as an apprentice jockey at the course aged 12 in 1948 (weighing just five stone at the time).

Today, Salisbury Racecourse hosts several notable races, including the Cathedral Stakes in June, the aforementioned Upavon Fillies’ Stakes and the Sovereign Stakes in August, as well as the Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes in September.