Against the backdrop of the beautiful English Lake District, it is possible to sample national hunt racing in its most original format.
With its party crowds and funfair, Cartmel rekindles the social gathering tradition of the original steeple to steeple chases.
Cartmel only stages National Hunt (jump) racing.
The course is a sharp and narrow left handed oval. The difference from other courses is our home straight which unusually veers off and dissects the main oval. The main circuit measures just over one mile and one furlong and what is also unique to Cartmel is that the run-in (the distance from the last fence to the finish line) is known as the longest in the country at just over 4 furlongs.
The steeplechase course has 6 fences; these include an open ditch and a water jump. The hurdles course has four obstacles. However, as the course is narrow around the last hurdle, it is removed during steeplechase races, and then rebuilt for hurdle events.
The narrow track, sharp nature of the bends, stiff fences and undulating contours make it difficult to win from off the pace. The course is ideally suited to front running course specialists.