And just like that, another season at Bath Racecourse has come to an end.
Our final fixture of the year saw 106 horses declared, and provided some brilliant finishes on what was Soft, Heavy in places ground. It was certainly a different afternoon to most of the conditions we had experienced earlier in the season, and for the first time this year we saw the runners come up the stands side rail. It was the first time we had properly testing ground, so it was no surprise to see this fresh section of the track used by the jockeys.
One of the highlights of the afternoon was presenting our Ride of the Year award, as voted for by our annual members. This year's winner was Finley Marsh, who has also finished the season as Bath's leading jockey with eight winners. Congratulations to Finley and thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. It is always good to recognise some of the outstanding rides we have seen here at Lansdown throughout the year.
Looking back over the season as a whole, we have staged 21 race days, with 1,414 runners taking part across 149 races, alongside our Arabian and pony races. That is a considerable amount of racing to accommodate, and a lot of preparation and hard work has gone in to maintain our standards over the past seven months.
It would be fair to say that this has been a challenging year, particularly for the grounds team. The prolonged periods of extreme dry weather, soring temperatures and fixture changes have all presented their own challenges. There have certainly been times when we have had to work exceptionally hard to keep the track in the condition we expect. However, I am incredibly proud of the resilience, commitment and dedication shown by the whole team. Everyone has played their part, often putting in long and unsociable hours and going above and beyond to get us through some difficult spells.
To the jockeys, trainers, owners and stable staff, thank you for your continued support of Bath. To our racegoers and annual members, thank you for coming along and supporting our fixtures, and, of course, a huge thank you to the entire racecourse team. It takes a lot of people to deliver a successful season, and I am grateful for everyone’s efforts.
Although we have now put the final fixture behind us, I am sure the off season will fly by. There will be plenty going on over the winter months as we assist our fellow ARC colleagues, carry out our usual maintenance and start planning for what is ahead.
We are already looking forward to kicking off the 2027 turf flat season on Good Friday, which is early on 26th March. We are confident this will be a wonderful day to begin our year, with £255,000 in prize money on offer, making it the richest day of racing ever staged at Bath. There is plenty to look forward to, and we will be working hard to make sure we are ready to welcome everyone back.
I will keep you updated over the winter with what we are getting up to around the course, so there will be plenty more to share before we get back racing.
In the meantime, I hope everyone has enjoyed the 2026 season as much as we have. Thank you again for your support, and we cannot wait to get going again in March!
