The second evening race meeting of the season, the inaugural West Yorkshire Festival Night, takes place at Pontefract on Monday Evening 8th June. Thwarted by heavy rain during the day in 2014, Pontefract will be hoping that the weather Gods look more kindly on the course this time round for a race meeting with some excellent racing and a huge variety of things going on.
The West Yorkshire Festival Night gives local businesses and events the chance to promote for free anything that they have going on. There’ll be a range of stalls on the evening from Forever Living Products to Homemade Jams, and Antique Jewellery to Sweets and Cakes! Truly something for everyone!
The feature race on the card is the Mr Wolf Sprint. This £15,000 race over 6f remembers one of the all-time Ponte greats. Runners in this race have a huge mountain to climb to emulate the great Mr Wolf though – he ran at Pontefract an incredible 36 times throughout his career, winning there on 8 occasions. He ran is last race at the course back in July 2012 but will be back on the night to parade before racing starts. If you’re lucky, there may also be the chance to get a photo taken with the Ponte superstar! The race itself is always a fiercely competitive event and usually throws up a sprinter to keep on the right side of – whether they’ll be as good as Mr Wolf is anyone’s guess!
The Tony Bethell Memorial forms the 3rd round of the 2015 Stayers Championship. This year’s series is currently tied between Suprise Vendor and Stickleback on 10 points, with 3 other horses snapping at their heels including the impressive Irish raider Point The Toes who won easily at the course in April. With several stayers earmarked for the Stayers Championship races, there could be a very exciting finish in store!
Also featuring on the card is The John De Lacy Magna Carta Handicap. The race celebrates Pontefract’s association with the Magna Carta on the 800th anniversary of the date on which it was sealed. John De Lacy, Lord of Pontefract Castle, was one of the Barons instrumental in forcing King John to seal the declaration. The High Sheriff of West Yorkshire will be on hand to make the presentations to the winning connections in the £10,000 1m 2f Handicap.
The final race on the card, The Pontefract & District Golf Club Handicap over 5f brings about the start of a partnership between the Racecourse and the beautiful local Golf Course. Members of the golf club can pick up a flyer from the 19th hole which will enable them to get reduced entry to the Races on this night!
The Racecourse’s ‘Postcode Lottery’ promotion means that anyone with a WF postcode can pick up a ticket for just £2. Simply register a utility bill with the Racecourse, pay your £2 and a ticket for the evening will be sent out in the post! Numbers are limited so make sure you book quickly!