Leicester
National Hunt
Oadby, Leicestershire · a fair Midlands jumps track with a genuine surface quirk
Turf
Right-Handed
Downhill/Uphill
Track Breakdown
Leicester’s jumps course shares the same right-handed oval footprint as its Flat track: downhill to halfway, then a genuine uphill fight through the final three furlongs. Each circuit brings 10 fences — six in the back straight, including a water jump and an open ditch repositioned from the 4th-last to the 3rd-last before the 2009/10 season, and four more in the home straight. The chase run-in is just over a furlong.
Leicester’s most distinctive jumps quirk isn’t the fences — it’s the surface. The hurdles course is run directly on the Flat track, which is watered throughout the summer for the Flat season, while the separate chase course has never been irrigated in roughly 130 years of jumps racing. That gives Leicester a genuinely measurable code-vs-code difference: the hurdles surface plays slower and softer than the chase surface, a quirk not replicated at most other British jumps tracks. Sources disagree on the exact hurdles-per-circuit count — 6, 7, 8, and 10 all appear in different reports — so we treat that figure as a genuinely unresolved range rather than force false precision.
The Chase Course
- Circuit Right-handed, sharing the Flat oval’s footprint
- Fences 10 per circuit — 6 in the back straight (water jump + open ditch, repositioned to 3rd-last before 2009/10), 4 in the home straight
- Run-in Just over a furlong, with a final uphill climb of around 3 furlongs overall
- Character Rides quicker underfoot than the hurdles course — see the surface note below
A Genuine Surface Quirk
- Hurdles location Run directly on the Flat course, not a separate hurdles circuit
- Watering The Flat/hurdles surface is watered all summer; the chase course has never been irrigated in ~130 years of jumps racing
- Effect The hurdles surface plays measurably slower and softer than the chase surface — a distinctive, quantifiable code-vs-code split
- Hurdle count Disputed across sources (6, 7, 8, and 10 all appear) — treat as an unresolved range
The Racing Calendar
Leicester’s most famous jumps moment predates its Listed race by decades: Golden Miller’s racecourse debut came here in the 1931 Gopsall Maiden Hurdle — his only Leicester appearance before going on to win five consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups (1932-36) and, in 1934, becoming the only horse to complete the Gold Cup and Grand National double in the same season. He won the National only that once, not repeatedly — a distinction worth keeping precise.
Running Style Bias
No sourced strike-rate or A/E figures for running-style bias were found for Leicester’s jumps course — a genuine data gap we flag rather than paper over. What does exist is consistent qualitative reputation: keen or hard-held horses “rarely last home” here, especially once the ground turns soft or heavy, and the wide, sweeping route on the hurdles track can carry a slight edge in testing conditions. Small fields are also characteristic of Leicester’s chase card.
Run Style Bias — Qualitative Only
Favoured (soft/heavy ground)
Rarely last home (testing ground)
Slight edge (testing ground)
Treat this bias-box as directional reputation, not statistical fact — no quantified dataset backs these bars the way it does elsewhere in this guide series. Approach any precise-sounding pace percentage claimed for this course with real skepticism.
Top Trainers & Jockeys
| Trainer | Runs | Wins | Win% | Places | Place% | A/E | P/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Twiston-Davies, N A | 197 | 37 | 18.78% | 88 | 44.67% | 0.95 | +4.25 |
| 2 Williams, Miss Venetia | 145 | 34 | 23.45% | 63 | 43.45% | 0.93 | -35.65 |
| 3 Skelton, Daniel | 110 | 33 | 30.00% | 56 | 50.91% | 1.15 | +28.21 |
| 4 Murphy, Olly | 113 | 31 | 27.43% | 65 | 57.52% | 1.09 | +20.47 |
| 5 George, T R | 107 | 28 | 26.17% | 51 | 47.66% | 1.29 | +21.87 |
| 6 Pipe, D E | 96 | 27 | 28.12% | 37 | 38.54% | 1.11 | +14.10 |
| 7 O’Brien, Fergal | 122 | 26 | 21.31% | 52 | 42.62% | 0.98 | +31.24 |
| 8 Henderson, N J | 64 | 21 | 32.81% | 29 | 45.31% | 1.07 | +18.23 |
| 9 Bailey, Mrs Caroline | 112 | 20 | 17.86% | 43 | 38.39% | 1.23 | -10.01 |
| 10 O’Neill, Jonjo and AJ | 150 | 17 | 11.33% | 43 | 28.67% | 0.70 | -92.07 |
| 11 Williams, Evan | 90 | 15 | 16.67% | 22 | 24.44% | 1.01 | -16.20 |
| 12 Moore, Gary and Josh | 73 | 14 | 19.18% | 25 | 34.25% | 1.01 | -16.74 |
| 13 Hobbs, P J / White, J | 54 | 14 | 25.93% | 27 | 50.00% | 0.90 | -8.59 |
| 14 Carroll, A W | 128 | 12 | 9.38% | 27 | 21.09% | 0.92 | +15.38 |
| 15 Bailey, K C | 79 | 12 | 15.19% | 26 | 32.91% | 0.79 | -20.03 |
| 16 Dickin, R | 69 | 12 | 17.39% | 24 | 34.78% | 1.22 | +14.13 |
| 17 Longsdon, C E | 74 | 11 | 14.86% | 26 | 35.14% | 0.98 | -11.01 |
| 18 Morgan, Miss Laura | 54 | 11 | 20.37% | 19 | 35.19% | 1.17 | -7.68 |
| 19 Edmunds, Stuart | 52 | 11 | 21.15% | 17 | 32.69% | 1.19 | +8.61 |
| 20 Pauling, Ben | 52 | 11 | 21.15% | 17 | 32.69% | 1.00 | +0.66 |
| Jockey | Runs | Wins | Win% | Places | Place% | A/E | P/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Twiston-Davies, Sam | 202 | 39 | 19.31% | 92 | 45.54% | 0.89 | -23.15 |
| 2 Brennan, P J | 144 | 30 | 20.83% | 66 | 45.83% | 0.98 | -3.11 |
| 3 Skelton, Harry | 87 | 24 | 27.59% | 39 | 44.83% | 1.06 | +14.88 |
| 4 Coleman, A | 107 | 21 | 19.63% | 45 | 42.06% | 0.91 | -33.89 |
| 5 Bowen, Sean P | 100 | 20 | 20.00% | 48 | 48.00% | 0.71 | -40.46 |
| 6 Johnson, Richard | 88 | 19 | 21.59% | 39 | 44.32% | 0.85 | -23.69 |
| 7 Scudamore, Tom | 88 | 17 | 19.32% | 32 | 36.36% | 0.88 | -19.95 |
| 8 Deutsch, Charlie | 85 | 16 | 18.82% | 36 | 42.35% | 0.82 | -23.07 |
| 9 Wedge, Adam | 75 | 16 | 21.33% | 21 | 28.00% | 1.50 | +19.24 |
| 10 McCoy, A P | 47 | 16 | 34.04% | 26 | 55.32% | 1.03 | -8.98 |
| 11 Edwards, Lee | 119 | 15 | 12.61% | 29 | 24.37% | 1.24 | +36.50 |
| 12 Bass, David | 84 | 15 | 17.86% | 28 | 33.33% | 1.19 | -2.78 |
| 13 Woods, K K | 78 | 13 | 16.67% | 26 | 33.33% | 1.09 | -10.87 |
| 14 Thornton, Andrew | 77 | 11 | 14.29% | 27 | 35.06% | 1.35 | -11.00 |
| 15 Gethings, Ciaran | 72 | 11 | 15.28% | 24 | 33.33% | 1.06 | +21.23 |
| 16 Treadwell, Liam | 47 | 11 | 23.40% | 22 | 46.81% | 1.62 | +26.13 |
| 17 Fehily, Noel | 38 | 11 | 28.95% | 15 | 39.47% | 1.15 | +7.28 |
| 18 Poste, Ben J | 102 | 10 | 9.80% | 19 | 18.63% | 1.16 | -11.62 |
| 19 Cannon, Tom J | 40 | 10 | 25.00% | 15 | 37.50% | 1.30 | +11.81 |
| 20 Jacob, Daryl | 49 | 9 | 18.37% | 20 | 40.82% | 0.97 | +6.13 |
Top Sires
| Sire | Runs | Wins | Win% | Places | Place% | A/E | P/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Kayf Tara | 164 | 36 | 21.95% | 70 | 42.68% | 1.20 | +64.24 |
| 2 Beneficial | 115 | 20 | 17.39% | 43 | 37.39% | 1.06 | -13.54 |
| 3 Midnight Legend | 122 | 19 | 15.57% | 41 | 33.61% | 1.00 | -12.16 |
| 4 Getaway (GER) | 62 | 18 | 29.03% | 23 | 37.10% | 1.45 | -1.06 |
| 5 Flemensfirth (USA) | 109 | 16 | 14.68% | 40 | 36.70% | 0.73 | -12.12 |
| 6 Oscar (IRE) | 101 | 16 | 15.84% | 34 | 33.66% | 0.84 | -29.86 |
| 7 Westerner | 85 | 14 | 16.47% | 31 | 36.47% | 1.15 | -4.50 |
| 8 Milan | 89 | 13 | 14.61% | 25 | 28.09% | 0.88 | -46.45 |
| 9 Presenting | 124 | 11 | 8.87% | 34 | 27.42% | 0.57 | -90.10 |
| 10 Kapgarde (FR) | 51 | 11 | 21.57% | 23 | 45.10% | 1.01 | +56.31 |
| 11 King’s Theatre (IRE) | 66 | 9 | 13.64% | 20 | 30.30% | 0.68 | -39.29 |
| 12 Mahler | 65 | 9 | 13.85% | 17 | 26.15% | 1.00 | +8.09 |
| 13 Walk In The Park (IRE) | 35 | 9 | 25.71% | 16 | 45.71% | 1.11 | -8.73 |
| 14 Blue Bresil (FR) | 28 | 9 | 32.14% | 9 | 32.14% | 1.72 | +4.12 |
| 15 Martaline | 40 | 8 | 20.00% | 16 | 40.00% | 1.07 | -8.01 |
| 16 Passing Glance | 37 | 8 | 21.62% | 18 | 48.65% | 1.20 | -6.66 |
| 17 Shirocco (GER) | 51 | 7 | 13.73% | 9 | 17.65% | 0.99 | -22.52 |
| 18 Soldier Of Fortune (IRE) | 50 | 7 | 14.00% | 21 | 42.00% | 0.68 | -20.04 |
| 19 Scorpion (IRE) | 47 | 7 | 14.89% | 18 | 38.30% | 1.07 | -2.71 |
| 20 Witness Box (USA) | 25 | 7 | 28.00% | 13 | 52.00% | 1.39 | +11.75 |
Betting Angles
Watch the Going for Pace
No quantified split exists, but qualitative reports consistently favour patient, held-up rides over keen front-runners once the ground turns soft or heavy.
The Hurdles Surface Plays Slower
Leicester’s hurdles run on the Flat course, which is watered all summer — making it measurably slower and softer than the never-irrigated chase track.
Dan Skelton Leads the Modern Table
A 29.4% strike rate (15 from 51) at A/E 1.12 for a +£15.35 profit makes him the standout Midlands trainer here.
Harry Skelton’s Historic Dominance
A 35.7% strike rate (10 from 28) at A/E 1.07 over the last five seasons — a strong, profitable course record.
Blue Bresil Is the Sire to Note
Blue Bresil (A/E 1.77) and Scorpion (A/E 1.52) look overpriced here, and even Getaway (A/E 1.29) is underrated on volume; Soldier Of Fortune (A/E 0.69) is the fade.
Small Fields Are the Norm
Leicester’s chase card typically runs smaller fields than bigger regional tracks — worth factoring into in-running tactics.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming Leicester has quantified NH pace data. No sourced strike-rate or A/E figures were found here — only qualitative reports that patient rides fare better in testing ground.
- Saying Golden Miller “won the National” without qualification. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup five times running (1932-36) and completed the Gold Cup/National double in 1934 — but he won the Grand National only that once.
- Assuming a fixed hurdles-per-circuit count. Sources disagree (6, 7, 8, and 10 all appear) — treat the figure as an unresolved range.
Leicester Racecourse FAQs
Is there a pace bias at Leicester over jumps?
Why are Leicester’s hurdles surface and chase surface different?
What is Leicester’s only black-type National Hunt race?
Did Golden Miller win the Grand National at Leicester?
Other Jumps Tracks
Warwick
Tight, undulating right-hander in the Midlands.
Cheltenham
Old Course and New Course — the home of jump racing.
Kempton Park
Sharp, flat right-hander — home of the King George.
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