Our Community

Introducing our first official equine ambassador, Wemyss Point

Meet… Beth Hutchinson & Wemyss Point

WEMYSS & BETH

Beth Hutchinson has known Wemyss since he was three years old, as she was part of the racing syndicate that owned him and is friends with Phil and Pippa Kirby and the team at their Green Oaks yard.   When it was decided to retire Wemyss from racing in 2022, he was sent home to Beth and her husband James, who live in a village close to Barnard Castle with a menagerie of horses, sheep and pup the dog!

Beth did a couple of in-hand shows with Wemyss before giving him some time off to ‘de-racehorse’ himself.  He is back in hand now getting ready for the 2023 season, she describes him as a character with a lovely, kind temperament.  He is a very good mover who still loves jumping, and Beth feels that he could have a bright career ahead of him as he can turn his hand to anything.  She intends to do in-hand and mounted showing and jumping classes and will aim for the Great Yorkshire Show and Aintree RoR Championships in August.  We look forward to keeping up with their progress and antics this Summer!

Keep up to date with Beth & Wemyss via their Blog below:

Introduction & Update No. 1 – May 2023

Wetherby Town

Wetherby Town has had a long-standing relationship with the Racecourse and the Racecourse Executive recruit staff from the local area and use local suppliers whenever possible.

Wetherby is an historical Market Town located on the River Wharfe and for centuries it has been an important crossing point and staging post along the A1 Great North Road being exactly equi-distant between London and Edinburgh.

Racing has been held in and around Wetherby since Roman days and its strong links to the community have been recognised in the Granite horse that now proudly jumps a serpentine limestone wall on the main roundabout connecting Wetherby with the A1 and Leeds.   For the full story of the Wetherby Granite Horse please click this link

For information on local amenities and where to stay, please contact Wetherby Tourist Information Centre on 01937 583144

Or try Trip Advisor, which offers first-hand reviews, good about hotels, restaurants, and places of interest.

Public Access & Dog Walkers

We pride ourselves on maintaining a good relationship with our local community and host many events at the Racecourse for local organisations and charities.

Our main gates are usually open Monday to Friday between the hours of 8.30am and 5.00pm and we accept that local residents will want to walk their dogs and/or exercise within our grassed car park areas. However we would advise, that outside of these times you do not park vehicles within the Racecourse grounds, as the gates could be locked at any time.

Whilst on-site, please do not venture onto the racetrack or within any of the Enclosures and keep dogs under control at all times.  It goes without saying that we would expect dog owners to pick up after their dogs.

Engaging the younger generation

Racing to School

We are proud to work with Racing to School, an education charity that aims to inspire young minds through the provision of free, interactive, and healthy outdoor educational events for schools.

We have so far welcomed children from St Joseph’s Catholic School Wetherby and the local Pony Club groups at a number of our racedays.

To find out more about Racing to School please click here to visit their website.

In 2022 the Racecourse partnered up with WiSE as part of the Yorkshire Racing Beacon Programme.

WiSE offers services to improve the quality of life for over 60’s in Wetherby and surrounding villages including Befriending, Transport services and Social activities. Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE) is a registered charity organisation. WiSE aims to enable older people to live at home, whilst reducing social isolation. They also support those who care for older people in the community.

WiSE at the Races!
Wetherby Racecourse provide WiSE with the ability to bring along some of their Wise Friends for a day at the races, twice a year.  The Racecourse provide a warm, comfortable viewing suite together with free entry and complimentary tea/cofee and biscuits and volunteers from Wise get everyone to the course, they meet them and show them to the WiSE suite and look after everyone on the day.  To date we have enabled 150 elderly residents in the local community, including one resident who is partially sighted and enjoyed her first social outing in 7 years, and another Gentleman aged 92 who enjoyed his first ever trip to the races!

Debbie Todd, activities co-ordinator for WiSE said “I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone involved with Wise’s day at the races.  It has enabled us to get some of our friends out to enjoy a fun social activity when they otherwise would have been spending another day alone.  I want to pass on our thanks to everyone involved at the Racecourse, including Adele Mulrennan, who provided a racecard talk for the group – our friends found her knowledge really useful.”

We had some lovely feedback from our WiSE friends:

What does a day at the races mean to you?

Team Wetherby volunteer at WiSE Pay as You Feel Cafe – Wetherby Town Centre

As part of our ongoing commitment to suppor WiSE and as part of Racing Together’s Community Day initiative, members of the Wetherby Racecourse team volunteered their services to help run the WiSE Cafe in Wetherby Town Hall on Tuesday 23rd May.

Find out more HERE