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Evening meetings are always extremely popular at Pontefract and the first of three this season is 80s Night on Friday Evening 25th May. It’s the first of two Music Nights (the other being on Friday Evening 20th July) and with one of the worlds biggest international female soloists from the 80s, Belinda Carlisle playing after the last race, it promises to be the best 80’s Night yet!
Over the last three decades Belinda Carlisle has made the journey from Hollywood-based teen punk with the Go-Gos to the ultimate global pop icon with a series of sophisticated, but instantly memorable pop-rock singles. It was ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’ that Belinda achieved international success. It was a number one on both sides of the Atlantic and launched the start of an incredible solo career. With huge hits such as ‘Circle In The Sand’, ‘Live Your Life Be Free’ and ‘Do You Feel Like I Feel’, this years 80s Night is going to be a brilliant evening of good fun and nostalgia and lots of laughs!
With a tour of America planned over the Summer of 2018, Pontefract Racecourse will be one of the only chances to catch Belinda Carlisle in the UK this year.
On track, the highlight is the 6 furlong £25,000 EBF Youngsters Conditions Stakes. With an impressive list of previous runners (including last year’s winner, Rufus King, who went on to win at Ascot and Newmarket) it always attracts some interesting and precocious juveniles looking to stake their claim for Royal Ascot glory the following month.
Constant Security Services provide the uniformed officers on duty on racedays at Pontefract and they sponsor 2 races on this card. Mutadaffeq won one of these races last year for trainer David O’Meara, and then came back to win on Ladies Day three months later.
Napoleons Casino Bradford sponsor the Fillies Handicap over 1m2f. It was won last year by the Mark Johnston trained Bonnie Arlene who went on to win at Sandown and Musselburgh in 2017. Get Up And Dance was the appropriately named winner in 2016 and there’ll be plenty of racegoers doing that in 2018 when Belinda Carlisle takes to the stage.
If you’re bringing a car to this meeting, don’t forget to pick up your voucher for two free bottles of water. Keep an eye out for the Ponte team handing out vouchers in the car parks. You’ll be able to redeem these at any of the ‘Designated Driver’ points around the Racecourse.
It’s going to be a fantastic night of racing, laughter, music and nostalgia and many racegoers will be taking advantage of the fact that the dress code is relaxed on this night when they pick out their best fancy dress outfit and hope to pick up one of the spot prizes provided by tiesplanet.com !
There are still discounted tickets available. The Premier Enclosure badges are currently £23 while Grandstand & Paddock Enclosure tickets are £15 – both prices include the concert after racing. Entrance tickets bought on the night will be full price (£25 and £17 respectively) so make sure you get your tickets before the night! Advance tickets can be purchased via the racecourse website at www.pontefract-races.co.uk or over the phone on 01977 781307.