Evening meetings are always extremely popular at Pontefract and the last of the season is our Red Shirt Night and Beer Festival on Friday Evening 20th July. The race meeting also marks the second of the Friday Night Music Night series held at the Racecourse in 2018 this year featuring The Bootleg Beatles!
The Bootleg Beatles are one of the world’s most famous tribute bands and they’ll be performing their stunning recreation of the greatest song book of all time at Pontefract on Friday 20th July. Tracing the Fab Four’s journey through the sixties, every tiny detail is meticulously covered from costume to authentic period instruments.
Jack Berry and Red Shirt Night have a place firmly in the history of Pontefract Racecourse. As a trainer, Jack Berry was renowned for wearing his Red Shirt as his lucky symbol. He was easy to spot when cheering home the likes of Mind Games and Paris House, two of his very best horses. Since retiring, he’s been the driving force behind The Injured Jockeys Fund’s Jack Berry House – a state of the art rehabilitation centre for injured and retired jockeys in Malton. Now in its 26th year, some racegoers will also don a red shirt but it’s certainly not a requirement! The charity race night is one of the most popular fixtures at the West Yorkshire track!
The popular race meeting also incorporates a Beer Festival, with local breweries Revolutions Brewing, Pennine Brewery, Ossett Brewery and Bier Huis all showcasing their wares. The beer festival will be held throughout the evening in the Grandstand & Paddock Enclosure and racegoers in both this area and the Premier Enclosure will be able to access the trademark best selling ales.
There’s an exciting programme as well with 6 races kicking off at 6:30pm. The feature race is the £20,000 Betfred Supports Jack Berry House Handicap Stakes – a 5 furlong sprint which will take around a minute to win it! Last year’s winner Crowning Glory, trained by Ralph Beckett stopped Paul Midgely’s 4 year run of winning this race. We also have a new £30,000 race run over 1 mile which has been kindly sponsored by Dickies Workwear at Junction 32.
There’s an interesting supporting card including the Countrywide Freight EBF Novice Auction Stakes which opens proceedings. This is the race where you could spot the odd star of the future! Only a few years ago, Treaty of Paris took this race before going on to beat The Grey Gatsby at York.
It’s the last evening meeting of the Summer at Pontefract and it’s always a popular event – make sure you take advantage of the advanced booking rates available through the Racecourse’s website at www.pontefract-races.co.uk.