Plumpton Racecourse

About the venue

National Hunt racecourse near Lewes, below the South Downs, racing since 1884. Away from racedays its 80 acres take conferences, parties and team days, with indoor rooms for up to 350 and the Final Fence Marquee for 500. Day delegate rates start at £40 plus VAT, and there are over 3,000 free parking spaces.

On 4 March 1980 the Prince of Wales rode at Plumpton in the Mad Hatters private sweepstake and came second. The winner was ridden by the TV presenter Derek Thompson. Plumpton opened as a coursing ground on 28 December 1876 and held its first horse race in 1884, a hunters' selling hurdle won by Cowslip. Peter Savill and Captain Adrian Pratt have owned the course since 1998.

In 1969 the 9th National Jazz & Blues Festival, the event that became Reading and Leeds, was staged here with The Who among the acts. The Queen Mother had her first winner at Plumpton in 1963, and Bob Champion rode the first winner of his career here in 1968. The site covers 80 acres below the South Downs, and Plumpton station is a five-minute walk from the north entrance.

Outside racedays the stands become a venue for up to 350 indoors and more than 5,000 outside. The Owners and Trainers Lounge looks onto the winning post and takes 250, with projector, screen and five private boxes alongside as breakout rooms. The Paddock Restaurant seats 200 behind floor-to-ceiling windows over the Parade Ring. The Paddock Bar is hung with framed jockey silks, and the Chasers Bar is done out like a pub.

The Final Fence Marquee stands beside the last steeplechase fence and takes 80 to 500 for dinners, award nights and parties. On racedays, the Paddock and Final Fence restaurants sell packages from £95 a head, and private boxes for up to 12 start at £105. Parking is free, with more than 3,000 spaces. With the clerk of the course's agreement, a helicopter can land in the middle of the track.

National Hunt racing since 1884

80 acres below the South Downs near Lewes

Indoor events for up to 350

Final Fence Marquee for 80 to 500

Day delegate rates from £40 + VAT (min. 15)

Raceday packages from £95; boxes from £105

Over 3,000 free parking spaces

Station five minutes' walk away