Thirsk Races Today – Get Thirsk Tips from Track Near North Yorkshire Moors
The Vale of Mowbray between the Dales and Moors is the home of Thirsk races today, but the sport took place further out from the market town historically. Sitting above the Vale of York, it was only natural that the Great North Road from London to Edinburgh passed through the area.
On this page, we look at one of Yorkshire’s minor but not insignificant race tracks. After delving more into the history of horse racing in the town and its environs, we discuss major meetings and the key races you can find Thirsk tips for throughout the year.
History of Thirsk Racecourse
Predating the current site by the best part of 250 years was Black Hambleton Racecourse. This sat atop Sutton Bank near the village of Cold Kirby in the Hambleton Hills a few miles east of the market town of Thirsk.
According to the course’s official website, racing took place here from 1612 during the reign of King James I. Throughout the Stuart and Georgian eras it continued until the Napoleonic Wars.
The location of Thirsk races today on the opposite side of town from Sutton Bank opened in 1855. Initially just used for a springtime fixture, an autumn meeting followed 25 years later.
In the meantime, the Thirsk Hunt Cup, the feature race at the track, began as a hurdle race in 1859. This soon became a Flat race in 1862, however, like the Hambleton Cup form the inaugural meeting at the course.
Although closed for almost a decade during and after the First World War, Thirsk reopened in 1923 and now hosts 15 Flat race days a year. It’s these race fixtures from April to October that we provide Thirsk horse racing tips on with Flat handicaps the best of the action.
Is Thirsk Races Today Flat or Jumps?
Despite that initial presence of some hurdle races, Thirsk has only hosted Flat racing since the end of the Victorian Age with the future King Edward VII, still then Prince of Wales, visiting in 1896. This means shorter races than those over jumps at the course.
It is a sharp, left-handed, oval track of about a mile-and-a-quarter round. Joining this half-a-mile from the winning post is a straight six-furlong course for sprint races (including also over the flying five furlongs).
Given how flat and level this venue is, draw bias isn’t something tips for Thirsk races today need worry about. As ever, depending on ground conditions and the type of race, horses drawn up against either the stands side or far rail could have an advantage, though.
Key Thirsk Races Fixtures
As noted above, punters and racegoers have 15 meetings to look forward to at Thirsk. These begin in April and go through until September with spring and autumn fixtures more likely to take place on soft ground.
The majority of Flat racing here is over the summer, however. That means potentially firm ground if there’s a dry spell. Those different types of going are something all Thirsk tips today must consider.
Three fixtures in particular at the track stand out. The first of those is Thirsk Hunt Cup day on the Saturday of the May Day Bank Holiday Weekend. That meeting does clash with the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket races and often the conclusion of the Punchestown Festival.
There is also the Summer Cup card in late July or early August. This suffers from the same problem in that Glorious Goodwood and the Galway Festival happen at the same time.
Finally, the Hambleton Cup day in early September is another historic race, if somewhat low grade by comparison. Despite the somewhat modest nature of the horses taking part, we’re committed to providing you with Thirsk race tips on all these notable handicaps from the track.
The Biggest Races We Have Thirsk Tips on
One thing lacking from Thirsk races today are Listed and Pattern races. In other words, the track doesn’t currently host any top class action. Thirsk racing tips today still have their part to play, however.
What it does have, however, are some historic races run as Flat handicaps. The Hambleton Cup is a low grade Class 4 event these days, but the Thirsk Hunt Cup and Summer Cup are just below the higher levels in the classification of races in the European Pattern.
Both are worth a closer look and the subject of AI Thirsk horse tips when they take place. They attract some of the better Flat thoroughbreds from the north of England to the track.
Thirsk Hunt Cup
A Class 2 mile handicap open to horses aged four and up currently with a ratings band of 0-105 taking place on the Saturday of the May Day Bank Holiday in late April or early May. This is the major race at Thirsk Racecourse of the entire season.
Dating back to the late 1850s and initially a hurdle race, it became a Flat staying handicap before reinventing itself at its current distance. Farhh is one of the most famous winners of the Thirsk Hunt Cup in the modern era, landing it on his reappearance as a four-year-old before tangling with the mighty Frankel and Nathaniel in races like the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, the Sussex Stakes during Glorious Goodwood and York’s Juddmonte International.
While Thirsk races today tips probably won’t feature a subsequent winner of the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury or a Champion Stakes hero for Ascot, it shows that the Hunt Cup still has some stature in recent times. First prize in 2024 was £25,770 and went to John & Sean Quinn six-year-old Titan Rock.
Summer Cup
Our Thirsk racing tips also look at another Class 2 mile handicap, but this one takes place as its name suggests over the summer. Open to three-year-olds and up with the same ratings cap as the Hunt Cup, the Summer Cup lacks its spring companion’s history.
First run in 2012, falling on either the last Saturday in July or first in August, that inaugural edition had more prize money than the race today. First place in 2024 was worth £15,700 with La Trinidad taking that pot home for the Roger Fell & Sean Murray stable aged seven.
FAQs
Is Thirsk races on today?
Discover if it’s Thirsk races today or not by looking at today’s racecards on Racing Tipster. Provided it’s between April and September, then there’s a chance that one of the track’s 15 annual fixtures could happen.
Where is Thirsk Racecourse?
Here is the address for the race track at Thirsk. It’s on Station Rd with a postcode of YO7 1QL. Located just to the west of the town centre along the A61 road towards Ripon, it within a mile’s walk of Thirsk Railway Station.
Why give free Thirsk tips?
We believe in providing free horse racing tips for Thirsk, because it’s all done on computers. Racing Tipster uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms based on key data like going, race distance, betting odds and horses’ past form and trainers’ current form. That creates Thirsk races tips without cost, so we don’t charge you for looking.
Where can I find tips and Thirsk races results today?
For all Thirsk races today results, we’ve got you covered. Racing Tipster has a dedicated racing results section for all UK and Irish venues. That includes Thirsk results, so check them out.
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