Rather like the regions intoned on BBC Radio's 'Shipping Forecast,' the names of Britain's sixty or so racecourses are regularly broadcast on TV and Radio sports programmes. But what are the racecourses actually like? Britain, where the thoroughbred evolved and where the sport of horseracing developed, has the most varied racing in the world and 60 racecourses in Britain have distinctive, intriguing and often eccentric atmospheres. Some are in parkland (Kempton, Sandown), and some follow the contours of rolling downs (Epsom, Goodwood). Some adjoin housing (Aintree, Ayr), some are bang next to busy roads (Doncaster, Wetherby), and some offer the racegoer uninterrupted views of gorgeous scenery (Cheltenham, Goodwood again). The oldest course in Britain, Chester (which staged its first races during the reign of Henry VIII), is also the smallest, running inside a Roman wall and circling the burial ground of a cross. York races take place on the Knavesmire, former site of public hangings. Other courses are products of royal enthusiasm for the sport: Charles II was largely responsible for the development of Newmarket, and Queen Anne founded Ascot. This is a portrait of the second most popular spectator sport in Britain, the country's 11th largest employer, as reflected in the colourful, eccentric and dramatic stories of the venues where it takes place.

In the bestselling tradition of Seabiscuit, the extraordinary true story of the world's most famous racehorse, and the rogue who owned him.
Epsom Downs racetrack, 3rd May, 1769: a chestnut with a white blaze scorches across the turf towards the finishing post, leaving his rivals in the dust. Awestruck, his spectators know they are in the presence of greatness.
This is a vivid portrait of high society and low life, of passionate sport and ferocious gambling. It's the story of Eclipse's owner, an adventurer who made his money through roguery and gambling -- a rank outsider who went on to become a national celebrity -- and of his horse, which went on to become the undisputed champion of horse racing; founded dynasties that dominated the bloodstock market in every country where Thoroughbreds raced; and whose influence was such that ninety-five percent of horses racing today are Eclipse's male-line descendants.