Hamilton Park Racecourse is awarded Gold Standard status

Hamilton Park Racecourse has been awarded Gold Standard status for 12 months and been named as one of the UK's best venues for racehorse owners.
The impressive grandstand at Hamilton Park Racecourse, with the paddock in the foregroundThe impressive grandstand at Hamilton Park Racecourse, with the paddock in the foreground
The impressive grandstand at Hamilton Park Racecourse, with the paddock in the foreground

The accolade, given in a competitive way for the third year, comes from the Racehorse Owners Association, the body which has represented racehorse owners for over 70 years and currently has in excess of 8000 members.Hamilton’s Gold Standard status has been achieved in the Small Racecourse category.Alan Pickering, chairman of the ROA’s Raceday Committee, said: “The competitive nature of the Gold Standard Award was seen to greater effect than ever before this year, with the closest finishes thus far.“The decision-making process was really challenging as the vast majority of racecourses showed improvement, which demonstrates their recognition of the importance of owners, and keeping them in the sport. “We must therefore offer the ROA members who took the time to provide their raceday experience feedback our heartfelt thanks.“While the ROA Raceday Committee visits every course every year, they cannot be present at every fixture, so the members can give us a real sense of how each racecourse is doing day-in, day-out. “Their feedback often made the difference between a course receiving an award or just missing out. “To those courses that did not make the grade this year I would say do not lose hope; the competitive element of this award means it is now a clean slate once again.“Sit down as a team and think through how you would wish to be treated if you had fulfilled your lifetime dream of owning, or part-owning, a horse. “The way in which owners are treated on a raceday will determine whether they think the journey, and the cost involved, was worth it.”Hamilton Park Racecourse, which first opened way back in 1782, hosts flat meetings between May and September.