Carlisle Horse Racing Tips

Carlisle Racecourse

Carlisle is a dual purpose racecourse located at Blackwell village in Cumbria. Those arriving by car should leave the M6 at Junction 42 and follow signs to Dalston. Travel 2 miles and turn right at the junction with the racetrack clearly sign posted. The racecourse is just over 2 miles from Carlisle Railway Station on the West Coast Main Line.

Carlisle Horse Racing Tips

Carlisle is a right handed course of around a mile and a half. Staying power must be a priority when considering the best horse racing tips for Carlisle races today. There is a steep incline throughout the final half a mile which makes this a stamina sapping course. The going can also become very testing so the emphasis is always on stamina for jump racing.

When the ground gets very soft, jockeys tend to take their horses over to the stand side in search of better ground. Taking the draw into account also features in our Carlisle racing tips. Statistics suggest that there is a slight advantage for low numbers in races over five and six furlongs.

Carlisle Horse Racing History

Racing at Carlisle can be traced back to the sixteenth century. The Carlisle Bell was first run in 1599 and is one of the oldest races in the calendar. Carlisle racecourse has been on its current site since 1904. In 1929 Carlisle was the venue for the Totalisator Board to operate their pool betting system for the first time in the UK.

The racecourse is one of fifteen now owned by The Jockey Club. These include Cheltenham, Aintree, Epsom and Newmarket. The Jockey Club is governed by Royal Charter and all profits go back into the sport.

Carlisle Bell

Carlisle stages National Hunt racing through the winter and flat racing during the summer months. The Listed Houghton Mares’ Chase takes place on the Sunday meeting in November. The Carlisle Bell and Cumberland Plate are the most notable flat races and feature at the June meeting. Carlisle Bell Day attracts around 5,000 racegoers and prize money of £137,500 was on offer across the 7 races in 2017.

Carlisle Races

The Carlisle Bell is a handicap race over an extended seven furlongs for three-year-olds and upwards and features on the same card as the Cumberland Plate. There are always plenty of Carlisle horse racing tips for the Carlisle Bell, the race most often associated with the track. It gets its name from the winning trophy with a bell being awarded during the reign of Elizabeth I.

The two original bells are among the earliest sports trophies in existence and can be seen at the Carlisle Guildhall Museum. Both bells were discovered in storage in the office of the Town Clerk in the late 19th century. The Cumberland Plate was first held in 1842 and is for three-year-olds and upwards over a mile and three furlongs.

The Eternal Stakes is a Listed race for three-year-old fillies over six furlongs. It was first run at Warwick in 2003 before being transferred to Newmarket (2014) and eventually settling at Carlisle the following year.

The most significant National Hunt race at the course is the Colin Parker Memorial Chase in November over two and a half miles. The Houghton Mares’ Chase was first run here in 2015 and is a Listed steeplechase over two and a half miles. It is restricted to fillies and mares aged four years and over.

Carlisle's Famous Races and Racehorses

Master of the House won the Carlisle Bell for successive seasons for Micky Hammond in 1994 and 1995. The previous year, Peter Walwyn sent Queen Warrior on the long trek up from Lambourn to win the prize off a light weight. Karl Burke’s Pas de Memories won from the other end of the scale in 1999, defying 9st 12lbs under Dean McKeown.

Habeta was the oldest winner in recent times when scoring at the age of ten for Bill Watts and George Duffield in 1996. Other notable winners of the Carlisle Bell include Rainbow Rain (1997), Travelling Band (2002), Osteopathic Remedy (2008) and Levitate (2012).

Levitate started an 18-1 outsider and just caught Toto Skyllachy to win by a short-head. He was trained by Alan McCabe at the time but enjoyed even greater success when transferred to John Quinn’s stable. He beat Global Village by a short head in the Lincoln at Doncaster on his first run for the new yard in March 2013. He later won a valuable handicap at Ayr and two further races back at Town Moor.

Spinning Queen won the Eternal Stakes when it was staged at Warwick in 2006 and would go on to win the Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes. The first year that the race was staged at Carlisle in 2015, victory went to Excilly for Tom Dascombe and Richard Kingscote. Opal Tiara won the following year for Mick Channon and Graham Gibbons. She went on to win the Group 3 Supreme Stakes at Goodwood and the Group 2 Balanchine at Meydan (2016). Opal Tiara claimed a second Group 2 success in the Lanwades Stud Stakes at the Curragh in May 2018.

There have been some high class winners of the Colin Parker Memorial Chase. Many Clouds beat Edouard in 2014 prior to winning the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury. The following spring he won the Aintree Grand National for Oliver Sherwood and Leighton Aspell. Other notable winners include Monet’s Garden (2006) and Tidal Bay (2008).

Emily Gray won the inaugural running of the Houghton Mares’ Chase in 2015 for Kim Bailey and David Bass. She won a Listed Chase at Huntingdon and a Grade 3 Chase at Fairyhouse the following year. Willie Mullins mounted a successful raid in 2017 with Benie des Dieux.

Carlisle Betting Tips

Trainer Richard Fahey tops the flat training statistics at Carlisle in terms of winners and prize money won. Tim Easterby and Mark Johnston have enjoyed plenty of success here in recent seasons and Roger Fell has a good record with his limited number of runners.

Top of our Carlisle betting tips is flat jockey Ben Curtis who has yielded a profit of over 100% to a level stake over the past three years. He has recorded a very impressive 28% strike rate during that period. Tony Hamilton and Paul Mulrennan also do well here and Rachel Richardson has rewarded her followers with a small level stakes profit.

Over the jumps, trainers Maurice Barnes and Sue Smith do particularly well in chases. Ruth Jefferson has made an impressive start to her training career and is also worth noting. Donald McCain Jnr and Chris Grant excel with their runners over hurdles here. Our roundup of Carlisle races tips concludes with National Hunt jockeys Daragh Bourke over fences and Will Kennedy over hurdles, both showing a healthy level stakes profit.