Beverley Horse Racing Tips

Beverley Racecourse

Beverley is a flat only racecourse in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It is only about a mile from the town centre and 13 miles from the M62. Take junction 37 and follow the A614/A163 to Market Weighton and follow signs to the racecourse. Beverley Station is on the Hull to Scarborough line and less than 3 miles from the track. There are regular buses and taxis available on race days.

Beverley Racing Tips

Beverley is a right handed track of just under a mile and a half. Most of the track is relatively flat but there is an uphill finish. The course can become quite testing in soft ground and the sharp bends are also a factor.

The best horse racing tips for Beverley today must start with a look at the draw. Low numbers have a considerable advantage in five furlong races here. The horses drawn high are starting at a lower point of the hill than those drawn on the inside. This draw bias still applies in seven furlong races but is cancelled out at a mile. This is because the horses have a longer run to the first turn and have time to gain a handy position.

Beverley Horse Racing History

Racing in the Beverley area can be traced back to 1690 on an area of common land known as The Westwood. Racing was officially established with the opening of a new grandstand in 1767. The racecourse provides stunning views across the countryside with Beverley Minster in clear sight.

Squire Watt of Bishop Burton near Beverley owned four St Leger winners, including Altisidora in 1813, trained by T. Sykes. His other winners were Barefoot (1823), Memnon (1825) and Rockingham (1833), trained by T. Shephard. All four were home bred in Yorkshire.

In 1849, the Beverley trained Peter Simple won the Grand National for T. Cunningham. He would repeat his victory in 1853, this time with Tom Oliver in the saddle. He was fifteen years of age when successful for the second time and remains the oldest ever winner of the race. During the late 19th Century, a three-day Beverley meeting was scheduled to follow York’s May meeting. Beverley invested in its infrastructure in 2008 and can now accommodate 12,000 spectators.

Hilary Needler Trophy

Beverley stages 21 flat race meetings per year between April and September. The Hilary Needler Trophy meeting takes place in May. Summer meetings include the popular Carnival Racenight in July and Ladies’ Day in mid-August. The Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes is the highlight of the late August/early September meeting.

Beverley Races

The two biggest races of the season at Beverley are the Listed Hilary Needler Trophy and the Beverley Bullet, both over five furlongs.

The Hilary Needler Trophy is restricted to two-year-old fillies and was first run in 1965. The race was given Listed status in 2011 and has been won by some very smart fillies. The Beverley Bullet was first run in 2004 and is the richest race at the track with prize money of £50,000 on offer. There are always plenty of Beverley tips for the Bullet, a race which attracts top sprinters who have been competing regularly in Group races.

Famous Races and Racehorses at Beverley

By far the most significant winner of the Hilary Needler Trophy was Mark Johnston’s Attraction, successful here under Keith Dalgleish in 2003. She confirmed herself as the best filly of her generation over a mile when taking the 1000 Guineas, Irish 1000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes in 2004. She also won the Sun Chariot Stakes and was kept in training as a four-year-old in 2005, winning the Matron Stakes. Injury curtailed her season and she was retired to the paddocks.

Another notable winner of the Hilary Needler was Easton Angel in 2015, trained by Michael Dods. She beat Opal Tiara by a length in a top class renewal before finding only the American juvenile Acapulco too strong in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. Easton Angel went on to win two Listed races as a three-year-old and was beaten only half a length when fourth in the Group 2 King George Stakes at Goodwood. Opal Tiara won two Group 2 races later in her career for Mick Channon.

Ian Semple’s Chookie Heiton won the first two editions of the Beverley Bullet in 2004 and 2005. In 2012 the race was won by the ten-year-old Borderlescott, trained by Robin Bastiman and ridden by Frederik Tylicki. Bastiman trains at Goosemoor Farm in Wetherby so it was a popular local success.

Borderlescott won the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes in 2008 and 2009. He had progressed from winning the Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood in 2006 and retired with career earnings of almost £800,000. He raced 85 times on 25 different racecourses, winning 14 and being placed on a further 30 occasions.

Tangerine Trees won the Bullet in 2011 before winning the Group 1 Prix de L’Abbaye at Longchamp, one the most prestigious sprint races in the calendar. He was trained by Bryan Smart and ridden by Tom Eaves. One of the hottest Beverley betting tips that year was for Alan McCabe’s Caspar Netscher making his racecourse debut. He was backed from 20-1 to 100-30 favourite before winning by two and a quarter lengths. He went on to win the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes at York and the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury.

Another veteran won the Beverley Bullet in 2017 when Take Cover captured the prize for David Griffiths and Tom Queally. He started a well backed favourite and made all the running to beat Final Venture by a length. The biggest victory of his career came in 2016 when winning the Group 2 King George Stakes at Goodwood. It was a thrilling race in which the first five horses finished within one length at the line.

A regular name among Beverley races tips was Rapid Lad who won twelve races here between 1983 and 1989. Such was the local affection for the horse that there is now a Rapid Lad Bar and a Rapid Lad Handicap at the course.

Beverley Betting Tips

Trainers Richard Fahey and Mark Johnston dominate the statistics at Beverley in terms of winners and prize money won. Johnston returns the higher percentage strike rate at around 18% but neither show a level stakes profit. David O’Meara is not far behind them while Michael Dods does well with a comparatively small number of runners.

Jockey Daniel Tudhope stands out among our Beverley horse racing tips with a 24% strike rate and a level stakes profit over the past three seasons. Only Joe Fanning has ridden more winners here during that period.