Kempton Park Racecourse
Section of tracks with finishing line
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| Location | Sunbury-on-Thames, Spelthorne |
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| Owned by | Jockey Club Racecourses |
| Date opened | July 1878 |
| Screened on | Racing UK |
| Course type |
Flat National Hunt |
| Notable races |
King George VI Chase BetBright Chase Sirenia Stakes |
| Official website | |
Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track together with a licensed entertainment and conference venue in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, 16 miles south-west of Charing Cross, London and on a border of Greater London. The site has 210 acres (85 ha) (0.85 km²) of flat grassland surrounded by woodland with two lakes in its centre. Its entrance borders Kempton Park railway station which was created for racegoers on a branch line from London Waterloo, via Clapham Junction.
It has adjoining inner and outer courses for flat and fenced racing. Among its races, the King George VI Chase takes place here on Boxing Day, a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older.
The racecourse was the idea of 19th century businessman (and Conservative Party agent) S.H. Hyde, who was enjoying a carriage drive in the country when he came across Kempton Manor and Park for sale. Hyde leased the grounds as tenant in 1872 and six years later in July 1878 Kempton opened as a racecourse. This was the feudal lord's demesne of a manor recorded in the Domesday Book and has had at least four variant names but though early Victorian gateposts exist, no buildings of the manor house remain.
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