A sharp right-handed circuit on ancient ground, an Edwardian grandstand, and racing close enough to feel — one of the last privately owned racecourses in Britain.
Ludlow is what racing used to feel like everywhere. The grandstand went up in 1904 and keeps its Edwardian ironwork — right down to the original porcelain and brass in the gentlemen's. The water jump sits in front of the stands, the parade ring fills with tweed, and the Clee Hills stand watch over the back straight.
Owned by the Ludlow Race Club and run by a team you'll meet on the gate, it stages sixteen National Hunt racedays from October to May — every one broadcast live on Racing TV.
The parade ring — one of only two in Britain walked anti-clockwise
Every raceday, clearly dated and priced, with tickets a click away. Advance prices end at midnight before racing; under-18s go free with an adult.
Advance prices end midnight before racing · under-18s free with an adult · groups of 30+ from £18 a badge
Every course has facts. Ludlow has form.
24 October 1980. Prince Charles rode his own horse Allibar into second place in an amateur riders' chase here — and Lady Diana Spencer, watching from the stands, was seen in public with him for the very first time.
Our feature race, the Forbra Gold Cup, honours Forbra — the 50/1 winner of the 1932 Grand National, owned by Ludlow town councillor and bookmaker William Parsonage. It's been run more than 65 times.
A public road crosses the course three times. On racedays it's closed, and the crossings are laid with matting the field gallops straight over — a test of horsemanship you'll find nowhere else.
Ludlow and Goodwood are the only British courses where horses parade anti-clockwise. Stand at the rail and you'll see the field the opposite way to everywhere else in the country.
The Old Field is a Bronze Age barrow cemetery — burial mounds up to 4,000 years old still rise inside the circuit, protected as scheduled monuments. Legend says soldiers from Ludlow Castle matched their horses here in the 1300s.
From a private box above the course to a carvery lunch before the first — every package includes your badge, your table and the best seats in Shropshire.
Your own box in the Jubilee Stand for 12–30 guests (two combine for up to 75), with a dedicated waiter all day, menu of your choice, private bar, racing feed, Members badges and racecards for everyone.
£135pp · book your box
The Ludlow institution: a three-course carvery lunch above the parade ring, Members badge and racecard included, then out to the balcony as they go to post.
From £77.50pp · book a table
Three-course lunch with tea and coffee at a reserved table for the whole afternoon, Members admission included — window tables overlook the winning post.
£88.50pp · book the packagePurchase a membership today and make the Old Field your own for the season: a Members badge for every Ludlow raceday, a car park pass, the Plymouth Members' Lounge with free tea and coffee, its own bar, food and betting — and reciprocal entry to more than 30 meetings at partner courses.
The Plymouth Members' Lounge — tea and coffee on us
The largest function room in Shropshire, marquees with dance floors, suites for 500 delegates and a private, unhurried space for wakes and celebrations of life. Call the office to enquire — 01584 856 221.
"You're not just at the races. You're on the Old Field — where Shropshire has raced for three hundred years."
Ludlow Racecourse
Bromfield, Ludlow
Shropshire SY8 2BT
Off the A49, two miles north of town. Free parking — and a waymarked country walk from Castle Square if you fancy arriving on foot.
Free shuttle bus from Ludlow Station — three runs before the first race, returning half an hour after the last. Gates open two hours before the first.
Hospitality, membership and venue hire: call the racecourse office — or meet the team.