Ludlow Racecourse named one of top 10 racecourses in UK

Ludlow Racecourse has been named one of the top 10 racecourses for a raceday experience in England and Wales.

The accolade comes courtesy of The Racecourse Association’s (RCA) Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme (QARS), which gives every racecourse the opportunity to have its raceday experience assessed by a trained assessor from VisitEngland Assessment Services (for England and Wales), with racecourses in Scotland assessed by VisitScotland.

The assessments analyse all guest touchpoints including pre-raceday information, the ticket buying process, the on-course experience and post-raceday communications.

Ludlow was the most improved course in 2023, increasing its score by 19 percentage points.

Simon Numphud, managing director of AA Media Limited, which facilitates the racecourse assessments under licence from VisitEngland, said: “The professional assessments undertaken by VisitEngland Assessment Services once again demonstrated a high level of consistency in the raceday experience.

“It reflects the hard work of teams across racecourses and the focus they place on customer experience and delivering a fantastic day out.

VisitEngland Assessment Services, responsible for all assessments in England and Wales, confirmed the top 10 racecourses for raceday experience in 2023 were (in alphabetical order):

Aintree
Beverley
Chelmsford City
Chester
Haydock Park
Ludlow
Newbury
Newmarket (Rowley Mile)*
Salisbury
York

*Newmarket (Rowley Mile) and Newmarket (July Course) are assessed on alternate years, as a result the July Course was not assessed in 2023.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, where racecourses were assessed by VisitScotland, Musselburgh Racecourse, operated by Chester Race Company, retained its five-star visitor attraction rating, increasing its impressive score year-on-year.