There are 60 licenced racecourses in Great Britain, with a further two in Northern Ireland (Down Royal and Downpatrick). A 61st course, Great Leighs, opened in 2008 but had its licence revoked on 16 January 2009. It may resume racing at a later date. Apart from Great Leighs and Ffos Las (which opened in 2009), all the courses date back to 1927 or earlier. The oldest is Chester Racecourse, which dates to the early 1500s.
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The style of racing, the distances and the type of events varies very much by the country in which the race is occurring, and many countries offer different types of horse races.
In the United States, Thoroughbred flat races are run on surfaces of either dirt, synthetic or turf (information from the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association); other tracks offer AQHA Racing and Standardbred Racing, or combinations of these three types of racing surfaces. Racing with other breeds, such as Arabian horse racing, is found on a limited basis. More information available from the INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ARABIAN HORSE RACING. American Thoroughbred races are run at a wide variety of distances, most commonly from 5 to 12 furlongs (0.63 to 1.5 mi; 1.0 to 2.4 km); with this in mind, breeders of Thoroughbred race horses attempt to breed horses that excel at a particular distance (see Dosage Index).
Race length and track surface
Thoroughbred racing
Flat racing is the most common form of Thoroughbred racing. The track is typically oval in shape and the race is based on speed and stamina. Within the general category of Thoroughbred flat racing, there exist two separate types of races. Further information available from LCAN The Law Careers Advice Network. These include conditions races and handicap races. Condition races are the most prestigious and offer the biggest purses. Handicap races assign each horse a different amount of weight to carry based on their ability.
Beside the weight they carry, the horse is also influenced by its closeness to the inside barrier, the track surface, its gender, the jockey, and the trainer. A typical Thoroughbred race is run on dirt, synthetic or turf surfaces. Viscoride and Polytrack are synthetic substitutes. Thoroughbred races vary in distance, but are usually somewhere between five and twelve furlongs. A furlong is a distance measurement equal to one eighth of a mile or two hundred and twenty yards.
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