Centre of Course Enclosure – Important Announcement

We wish to announce that, with effect from the start of our new racing season on Wednesday 15^th October, the way in which the Centre of Course public enclosure will be operated will alter quite considerably.

Despite ongoing maintenance, repairs, and general refurbishment over the last decade, the Course Café no longer meets the standards we wish to offer both in terms of safety and Raceday experience and and given the nature of this enclosure, it is simply not viable to replace this building and therefore, very sadly, the decision has been made to demolish the Course Café facility.

Concurrent to this, attendances in the Course Enclosure generally have been declining over the last few years, which has made operating this enclosure a challenge financially, and unfortunately, without a regular programme of family-focused, weather-friendly race meetings – which have helped maintain the viability of the ‘picnic’ type enclosures at other venues – we simply do not anticipate seeing a significant enough increase in attendances within this area and, as such, we are unable to justify the substantial investment that would be required to rebuild our Course Enclosure facilities.

In order to retain a low-priced entry point for our customers moving forward, the centre of the racecourse will continue to open on weekends and selected high footfall days for pre-booked vehicles only, with capacity restrictions on specific racedays, and will be known in the future as the ‘Park and View’ enclosure.

‘Park and View’ will be available to pre-book for those wishing to bring their car into the Enclosure.  Basic amenities, including toilet facilities and an indoor shelter area for tote betting will still be available. However, there will be no bar or cafeteria service, and therefore visitors will be encouraged to bring their own food, drink and general refreshments with them in their cars.

The management team at Wetherby Racecourse remain committed to delivering the best possible racing experience for all our visitors, and we thank you for your continued support and understanding on this very difficult decision.