Wincanton Racecourse Guide
Celebrated its 150th birthday in 2017, Wincanton lies to the very east of Somerset, with Taunton and Salisbury roughly 30 miles or so on either side. Along with Exeter, Newton Abbot and Taunton, it forms part of a longstanding and strong West County jumps tradition that still thrives today.
Access is gained from the sometimes tricky A303, but this friendly and ever-popular course is well worth the visit, especially given that competitive and often high-quality National Hunt racing is assured with strong support from numerous West Country trainers.
In Somerset alone, there are over 25 licensed trainers, including Paul Nicholls (Ditcheat, 10 miles away), Philip Hobbs (Minehead, 62 miles), David Pipe (Wellington, 45 miles), Jeremy Scott (Brompton Regis, 58 miles) and Nigel Hawke (Bridgwater, 32 miles).
Colin Tizzard is based just 10 miles away across the Dorset border and, like Paul, has runners aplenty at his local track. Consequently, racing at Wincanton always features horses from top yards.
Seventeen or so meetings take place each year between mid-October and mid-May, and five of these usually fall at weekends, although as mentioned before, competitive action is nearly always served with the highlight of the season being the Grade 2 Elite Hurdle.
Wincanton is a gem of a place and a ‘proper’ winter jumps track.
Type of Racing: National Hunt Only
Highlights: The Badger Ales Trophy Chase (November) run since 1962, and the Kingwell Hurdle (February), a known Champion Hurdle trial, are the annual highlights.
TV Channel: Racing TV
Bookmaker Streaming Services are Available from Paddy Power and William Hill.
* All statistics below are based on the previous five years at Wincanton
Wincanton Outright Favourite Statistics
- Handicap Chases: 50-169 (30%) -20.75
- Handicap Hurdles: 45-138 (33%) -14.20
- Non-Handicap Chases: 10-19 (53%) -0.30
- Non-Handicap Hurdles: 66-122 (54%) -1.87
Wincanton Racecourse Map
Right-handed, one mile three furlong circuit, which rides very sharply. Mainly flat with slight undulations, the approach and turn into the home straight is a little downhill.
Wincanton Racecourse Address: Wincanton Racecourse, Wincanton, Somerset, BA9 8BJ
Wincanton Racecourse Telephone Number: 01963 435840
To buy tickets for a race day at Wincanton, head over to their official ticket booking webpage.
Wincanton Tips From The Racecourse
With such a hive of training activity nearby, money tends to talk. Being at the heart of a buoyant West Country racing scene, any betting moves for horses trained locally should be noted, especially ‘early moves’ the night before, or early in the morning.
Of particular interest is where a betting move for a horse representing a smaller local yard is observed. Similarly, any local horses on the drift should be noted and best avoided. The OLBG horse racing tipsters will be aware and will advise via their informative tip comments.
The track itself rides fairly sharp, meaning it favours prominent runners over known hold-up horses, and many a race has been won from the front at Wincanton.
The ground can get quite soft in the harsh winter months, which brings stamina into play if the leaders go off too quickly, but generally, when the ground is riding decent, the nippy front runners can get the staying types off the bridle fairly quickly.
Like many other courses, the fences are not as stiff and formidable as they used to be but are still a true test, especially the three up the home straight, which come soon after the turn for home.
Evidence of this was witnessed at Christmas, 2016, when all nine runners in a handicap chase fell or refused, with the race eventually being declared void. A wide berth should be given to chancy novices or horses with a history of letters in their form figures.
If you are off to the races at Wincanton today, then be sure to download the OLBG app for all the latest Wincanton tips from OLBG horse racing tipsters.
Wincanton Trainer and Jockey Statistics
Who are the best National Hunt jockeys and trainers to bet on at Wincanton?
Following Joe Tizzard would have returned a profit here at Wincanton with an LSP of +13.34, and their twenty-five winners have them at the head of the profitable trainers' list. P F Nicholls leads the trainers' list overall with seventy-one winners, but shows an overall loss. When looking at trainers and looking for some eachway value at Wincanton, then the trainer who shows the best eachway profit is J Scott, that LSP is +58.31, which has been accumulated by a total of forty-two placings, which includes twenty-two winners. The trainer with the worst record at Wincanton based on LSP is N P Mulholland, who has only an 8% strike rate with fourteen winners from one hundred seventy runners, which have returned an LSP of -65.39.
Harry Cobden is the leading jockey here at Wincanton with fifty-two winners, but you would have recorded a loss if you backed all of their rides, whilst following Rex Dingle would have returned the most winners (nineteen) from a profitable jockey. Rex Dingle is the jockey to follow at Wincanton if you are backing eachway, as they show the best LSP of all the jockeys in the eachway markets, that is +42.25, which is courtesy of their thirty-five placings (nineteen winners). Sean M Houlihan does not have a great record at Wincanton; their LSP of -74.50 has them stone dead bottom of the jockeys' list, which has come from six winners from one hundred eight rides, which is a 6% strike rate.
Wincanton Picks & Hints
Here are some factors at Wincanton for certain trainers or jockeys which have been profitable:
- 21-47 (45%) +23.78 - Backing Harry Cobden rides when on horses aged 6yo
- 5-10 (50%) +17.13 - Backing A J Honeyball runners when horses are aged 8yo
- 6-13 (46%) +12.63 - Backing P J / White Hobbs runners when horses are aged 6yo
Wincanton Top Jockey and Trainer Combinations
Here are the best trainer and jockey combinations here at Wincanton based on the number of winners:
- 42 Wins: P F Nicholls & Harry Cobden
- 16 Wins: Joe Tizzard & Brendan Powell
- 9 Wins: A J Honeyball & Rex Dingle
- 9 Wins: J Scott & Rex Dingle
- 8 Wins: C L Tizzard & Brendan Powell
Wincanton Top Trainers By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Tizzard | 182-25-62 | +13.34 | -0.27 |
| J Scott | 121-22-42 | +127.41 | +58.31 |
| A J Honeyball | 145-20-45 | +23.13 | -2.49 |
| D E Pipe | 103-16-36 | +32.50 | +13.54 |
| N A Twiston-Davies | 51-11-19 | +26.31 | +5.97 |
| Harry Derham | 36-9-14 | +4.67 | +1.01 |
| Sam Thomas | 24-9-13 | +20.98 | +10.15 |
| M F Harris | 55-8-17 | +2.75 | -4.14 |
| G L Moore | 36-8-14 | +10.84 | +3.84 |
| Syd Hosie | 60-6-11 | +5.75 | -12.90 |
Wincanton Top Jockeys By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rex Dingle | 105-19-35 | +94.34 | +42.25 |
| Tom J Cannon | 82-11-28 | +7.83 | -7.09 |
| Daryl Jacob | 38-10-16 | +7.71 | +3.83 |
| P V O'Brien | 59-9-19 | +18.92 | +6.28 |
| Jordan Nailor | 30-8-13 | +42.20 | +22.38 |
| Mitchell S Bastyan | 46-7-15 | +3.75 | -1.57 |
| Stan Sheppard | 24-7-9 | +8.50 | -0.65 |
| Gearoid Harney | 30-6-11 | +55.00 | +29.44 |
| Miss Olive Nicholls | 18-6-11 | +2.65 | +7.50 |
| James Davies | 59-5-7 | +16.00 | -6.64 |
With a huge combined experience of horse racing between them, this content has been created and is maintained by Darren Brett, James Banting and Andy Powell.
*All of the data for Wincanton Racecourse, which includes the trainer and jockey statistics, has been created using statistics available from HorseRaceBase. The data includes all races throughout the last five years (2021 to 2025).
Darren Brett
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James Banting
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Andy Powell
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