Courses for horses

 
Rather like the regions intoned on BBC Radio's 'Shipping Forecast,' the names of Britain's sixty or so racecourses are regularly broadcast on TV and Radio sports programmes. But what are the racecourses actually like? Britain, where the thoroughbred evolved and where the sport of horseracing developed, has the most varied racing in the world and 60 racecourses in Britain have distinctive, intriguing and often eccentric atmospheres. Some are in parkland (Kempton, Sandown), and some follow the contours of rolling downs (Epsom, Goodwood). Some adjoin housing (Aintree, Ayr), some are bang next to busy roads (Doncaster, Wetherby), and some offer the racegoer uninterrupted views of gorgeous scenery (Cheltenham, Goodwood again).