York named RCA Showcase Champion Racecourse
- York crowned RCA Showcase Champion Racecourse.
- Carlisle named Groundstaff Champions in Racecourse Groundstaff Awards.
- Jockey Club Racecourses & Gallagher honoured for community engagement partnership.
- RCA brings together British racing to celebrate racecourse excellence & innovation with insightful conference and gala awards ceremony.
York Racecourse has been crowned the Showcase Champion Racecourse at the 13th annual RCA Showcase Awards.
At the gala ceremony held at Edinburgh’s Signet Library, York became just the third racecourse to hold the accolade of being a multiple Champion alongside Ascot and Aintree.
Centred around the new Bustardthorpe Development, the independent judging panel for the Showcase Awards were suitably wowed by the excellence and innovation on show at York throughout the 2024 season, with the Knavesmire team winning both the Racing Connection and Racing Foundation Green Awards en route to being named Champion.
In winning the Racing Connection Award, York’s work in collaboration with Great British Racing (GBR) and the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) to present Under Jockeys’ Orders was celebrated as a significant step forward to help connect the racegoing public with jockeys. Under Jockeys’ Orders demonstrates the jockeys’ skill and dedication as elite athletes as well as the personalities behind the saddle, and added another fascinating element to the flagship 2024 Sky Bet Ebor Festival.
The Bustardthorpe Development at York Racecourse is a major upgrade to the racegoing experience, and one that also significantly contributes to the environment with a green legacy at its core. The Racing Foundation Green Award was presented to York as a result. York’s win here opens a fast-track route to apply for up to £20k funding from the Racing Foundation to help with further environmental sustainability projects.
York Racecourse was also a Finalist in the Food & Beverage category and had already been named Flat Racecourse of the Year in the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, demonstrating a racecourse team operating at the highest level across all areas, delivering a season of fantastic experiences to thousands of racegoers and participants alike.
William Derby, Chief Executive & Clerk of the Course at York Racecourse, commented: “I am hugely proud to be part of the team at York Racecourse and to be named Champion Racecourse for a second time. It is an honour and privilege to receive this honour amongst friends and colleagues in British racing.
The RCA Showcase is a wonderful initiative which York has supported since its inception. It is vital that we continue to promote the positive work done across British racecourses and I was thrilled to see the other fine work of racecourses celebrated tonight.”
230 guests attended the sold out 2024 Showcase Awards held at Edinburgh’s Signet Library on behalf of 2023 Champions Musselburgh. Hosts Rishi Persad and world record-holding rower Taylor Winyard led the celebration of the best of British racecourses in 2024, with 13 awards presented plus three Highly Commended accolades. The event is presented by the RCA and partnered by Great British Racing, Racing Together, the Racing Foundation and Racing Post.
Alongside York’s overall success, it was a fantastic night for Yorkshire Racing overall.
Ripon Racecourse claimed the Raceday Award for the Gold Medal Family Day, a superb event which utilised a new fixture slot to capture the summer of sport and delight racegoers of all ages without interrupting the already-popular series of family days planned. Chester Racecourse was presented with a Highly Commended accolade in this category for their excellent Oktoberfest raceday.
The Pontefract Racecourse team continued their series of Showcase successes by winning the Diversity & Inclusion Award. Pontefract’s sport-leading Autism-friendly racedays, offered at every raceday in collaboration with Future Ticketing and Autism in Racing, have seen Pontefract become the first and only racecourse to be accredited by the National Autistic Society.
Beverley Racecourse’s collaboration with Longcroft High School saw the East Yorkshire track honoured with the Non-Raceday Event Award. The racecourse welcomed GCSE students for a series of stress-busting activities in the great outdoors, all the while allowing these prospective racegoers to engage with the racecourse and sport of horseracing.
Go Racing In Yorkshire co-ordinated a groundbreaking bowel cancer awareness and screening programme across the county, and as such were the winners of the Racing Together Community Award. By winning this award, the Go Racing In Yorkshire team will now work with the RCA and Racing Together to produce a video summary of their winning initiative to further showcase the initiative to wider audiences.
Recognising further excellence in this category, RCA Chair Wilf Walsh honoured The Jockey Club for their pioneering partnership with Gallagher with the Chairman’s Award. Since 2023, The Jockey Club and Gallagher’s partnership was the first of its kind in British racing, and continues to lead the way as an exemplar for others to follow in how to utilise community engagement to benefit all connected parties.
The two public-voted Showcase Awards received record entries in 2024 with racegoers and owners keen to have their say. The Racing Post Readers’ Award celebrates customer service and value for money and was won by Kelso Racecourse, whilst The Racehorse Owners’ Racecourse of the Year, in collaboration with the ROA, was won by Ascot Racecourse. The Berkshire track also won a Highly Commended accolade in the Marketing category for the Royal Ascot: Elevating the Ascot You campaign.
Chelmsford City Racecourse celebrated a strong year with victory in the Marketing Award thanks to the Pick A Winner initiative. This saw pop-up stations across Essex promote the racecourse with interactive games which delighted racegoers and added valuable numbers to the racecourse database. Chelmsford City also received a Highly Commended accolade in the Racing Together Community Award for their Remembrance Raceday.
In the Food & Beverage Award, Perth Racecourse celebrated their new stand refurbishment which saw an overhaul of food and drink options across all levels of the racecourse. The judges were particularly impressed with the local-first approach, which notably has seen a decrease in antisocial behaviour due to the lower ABV Tennents now being served.
In the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, Aintree (jump), Carlistle (dual purpose) and York (flat) had already been named winners in their respective categories. Carlisle Racecourse was crowned the Groundstaff Champion, with the judges commenting on the superb team spirit amongst the groundstaff and exquisite turf produced throughout the year.
RCA Chair, Wilf Walsh, commented: “Congratulations to William Derby and the York Racecourse team on being named our 2024 Champion Racecourse. York provides a unique, top-quality race going experience to its visitors and the course always performs at an extremely high level, setting exceptional standards. Being named a multiple Champion Racecourse is rare, with York being only the third racecourse to achieve this accolade.
“Racecourse teams across the country work exceptionally hard to deliver fantastic days out. All our Showcase winners and highly commended are quite rightly celebrated and the RCA looks forward to sharing the best-in-class practice acclaimed at the Showcase Awards in the months ahead.”