Chester Racecourse — Attraction in City of Chester

I'm a huge fan of horse racing and had always wanted to go to Chester. It's an iconic racecourse and had always looked so inviting on TV. Sadly my visit was an immensely disappointing experience. It is not a place to watch racing. It is an unpleasant, unwelcoming and greedy venue. It is a place to pose, to drink and to be treated with contempt. I paid £45 for my ticket. I struggle to understand what I got for my money. On arrival I was told that I was not suitably dressed. I was wearing a 3/4 length coat, collared shirt and tie. A steward shouted across the crowd that I needed to go back into town and buy myself a jacket and that the dress code was clearly stated on my ticket. It was an embarrassing and unnecessary intervention. I looked smart. I bought myself a worn jacket from a nearby charity shop. I looked much less smart than I did originally but was allowed in. Why does a venue like this need such an inflexible dress code in this day and age? Once inside, I placed my bet for the first race and went to take a seat in the stand to watch the race. I was told that my ticket didn't allow me access to the seats in the stand. I asked the steward where my ticket allowed me to go. He shrugged his shoulders and said "You can't come in this bit" and that was it. So, for £45 I don't get a seat. I may as well have paid for Tattersalls. As for the racing the view from the stands is terrible. Chester should be a fascinating racecourse. It is quirky, unusual, tight and turning. You'd want to know how a jockey drawn wide gets into a position to win. Some of the races started near the stands, this should be an interesting thing to see. You see nothing. The area in the middle of the course is built up and the view of the racing is non-existent until the last 2 furlongs. The people who stood on the walls outside the racecourse get a better view of the races than those of us who paid to get in. Chester is all about drinking, about dressing up to be seen. I would guess that less than 50% of the large crowd actually watched a race and because there is nowhere to sit these people just sit in the terracing all day making it difficult to find a place to see the limited view of the horses. I found the attitude of staff to be unhelpful and uncaring. They all seemed to exist in order to tell people to wear jackets, wear ties and tell you where you can't go. The "sell as much alcohol as possible" attitude means that staff end up monitoring and controlling bad behaviour rather than enhancing the experience of the racegoer. It is pretty clear that Chester is not actually interested in horse racing and racegoers. Punters seem like an inconvenience. I go racing every couple of months and have never experienced such terrible value, terrible service and terrible views. I've been to Chester now. I'll never...

We attended the race meeting yesterday (Saturday 28/6/25) it was my wife's first visit to any race course and was really looking forward to the experience. I bought tickets for 'Country Concourse' at £65 each + £2.50 booking fee, so we thought that we would have a wonderful day at the races. We arrived early after a pre drink at the Architect pub across the road (wonderful start to the day) the weather was great and the atmosphere was buzzing. That was until we entered the race course itself when it all started going wrong, we got seats in the only area where you can sit down, unfortunately you cannot see any racing or TV, so what is the point of that. We went for a drink at one of the many bars only to be greeted by staff that didn't even know what drinks they had behind the bar and no idea of the prices (which are stupidly high) or what to charge (I was overcharged but didn't realise it till I'd left the bar) too late to go back and complain, they were also very rude and chatting to their friends rather than serving customers. We left our seats (big mistake) to go the the parade ring to view the horses and then onto the (rip off merchants) sorry, bookies, you look at the odds on the boards, in this instance the horse I was backing was 14/1, placed my bet with the odds still showing 14/1, but after walking away I checked my ticket which was 12/1, like the bar experience, to late to go back and complain. This was just the first race, we spent the rest of the meeting trying to find somewhere to sit, but to no avail, we both in our late 60's and paying £132.50 for the day, the least you'd expect is a seat and a view of the racing. I'm giving Chester racecourse one star because you cannot 'post' no stars, which is what I wanted to do, because the experience was totally disappointing from start to finish, I did manage to find 2 winners so that was a plus, so it's not just a 'grumpy old man' having a rant. Chester racecourse opens it arms to get you in, but then offer nothing for what you pay for, or what you think your going to get, other racecourses offer far more than they do. Just a side note, there is NO Internet connection at all within the grounds, so don't even think about trying to do 'online betting'. My final say to our day out at Chester races is to go and stop at the Architect pub where there is the Internet and from the roadside you get a fantastic view of the racing. At this moment in time there is no possibility that I would return to Chester...

Rip-off Chester. My wife and I visited last Friday, as I needed to tick the course off. The racing was nothing special, 3 class 4 races and 5 class 5 races. When I checked the ticket prices 2 weeks before the meeting I couldn't believe that they were asking £32 for a Tattersalls ticket and £17 for the Roodee enclosure (silver ring). Although excessive I was going to get the Tatts tickets. However, when I came to book them a few days later(10 days prior to the meeting) the prices had increased to £39 and £20. Apparently they operate dynamic pricing. What a joke! There was no way I was going to pay £39 each for rubbish racing. I'm not sure I've ever paid that for Group 1 meetings before, other than Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham festival. We, therefore, bought tickets for the Roodee enclosure (well done Chester, you just lost yourselves £24 - £40 instead of £64). Once in the course you are then met with your next rip off, £5 for a racecard - why? Followed by the usual racecourse beer prices plus a bit more as it's Chester, £6.45 to £7.95 for a pint. If you want a cup of tea it's £3.50. Looking across to Tatts I couldn't see any extra facilities that would have justified paying an additional £19 per ticket. This racecourse really does have serious delusions of grandeur. Ascot it is not! Bearing in mind the view from the road and the fact that there is a pub (The Architect) with a huge garden a few yards away, I would suggest saving your entrance fee and having a beer in the pub. By the way the photos that I have posted are from a long way along the road on the way to the Little Roodee car park (recommended - £5 for 6 hours). You can get a far better view of the course and big screen just up the road. I, for one, am certainly glad that I never have to return to this...