2019 UK Flat Racing Season Begins on Saturday

The 2019 flat racing season will begin on Saturday at Doncaster. As we have seen for a long time, the season begins with the hugely competitive Lincoln handicap, and a strong supporting card alongside it. We also have a good flat meeting on the all-weather at Kempton to accompany Doncaster and after a winter of jump racing, it is now time to think about the flat.

The Lincoln is one of the most competitive handicaps of the season, and always a tough puzzle to solve. Expect a maximum field in the race, and also in the Spring Mile, which is the other mile race on the card for those that don’t get into the Lincoln.

Elsewhere we have the Cammidge Trophy which is a six furlong listed race and this is the first race on the card to kick things off. This race usually gives us a mix of older well-known sprinters and youngsters who are going to try and make their mark felt in the sprinting division this season.

The Doncaster mile is another race over eight furlongs on the card, but this one is a listed race and generally attracts a good field field, although it can sometimes be a little small. Perhaps the most interesting race of the day is the fifth on the card, the Brocklesby.

This is for two year olds, and with it being the first two year old race of the season, none of the horses will have ran before. It is an impossible betting race, as there is no form to go on and no idea of which yards have their two year olds ahead of the rest, but it is certainly a race to watch with your notebook in hand as you look for pointers for the future.

The card is rounded off with a maiden for older horses and an apprentice handicap. Doncaster are then straight back in action the day after with more flat racing for us, and that meeting has a 1m4f conditions race as the highlight.

Although we still have the Grand National meeting to come from Aintree next week, with top quality jumps action on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to look forward to, the Lincoln signals to us that it is time to focus on the flat. Things get underway this week, with a brief stop the week after to accommodate Aintree but then after that it is all systems go for flat racing fans.