Goodwood Racecourse

Goodwood Racecourse is a flat-racing course on the Goodwood Estate, held by the family of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.

Its five-day summer meeting is the Qatar Goodwood Festival, popularly known as Glorious Goodwood, a five-day flat racing meeting at Goodwood Racecourse near Chichester, West Sussex. That week is five of the nineteen racedays Goodwood staged in 2025, and it is one of eight named fixtures the racecourse runs. Hospitality is offered at every one of the eight.

Anyone planning a group day should settle the shuttle first. A bus runs between Chichester Train Station North Car Park and the racecourse on a raceday, at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour from 10.15am until 1.15pm, and the last return leaves the racecourse 60 minutes after the final race. A guest who reaches Chichester after 1.15pm has no shuttle and needs a taxi or a car.

Racing opened here in May 1801 as a private meeting for officers of the Sussex Militia and members of the Goodwood Hunt, the first public meeting followed in 1802, and the estate, now 11,000 acres, has been in the same family since 1697.

What is hospitality at Goodwood Racecourse like?

Hospitality at Goodwood Racecourse is a full-day arrangement built around an enclosure badge and a reserved base you keep from the gates opening until you leave. Goodwood's published inclusion lists across its hospitality venues share the same spine: an enclosure badge that governs where you can walk all day, a private balcony, box or courtyard held for your party, a reception drink, a seated multi-course lunch and afternoon tea, an inclusive bar, a car park pass, a racecard and betting facilities.

Most people underestimate the second eating occasion. Lunch is seated and served, and tea or cake follows later in the card at daytime fixtures, which is what turns a raceday into a working day with clients rather than a two-hour lunch with racing attached.

The inclusive bar at Goodwood's hospitality venues covers house wine, beer, selected spirits and soft drinks. Bars serve over-18s only and staff may ask for identification.

The venues Goodwood publishes

These are the racecourse's own hospitality venues, with what Goodwood publishes about each. The racecourse decides which of them operates at any given fixture, and that changes through the season.

• The Charlton Hunt. Richmond Enclosure admission, on the first floor of the Charlton Stand overlooking the Horse Walk, with a private balcony. A Veuve Clicquot NV reception, a four-course a la carte menu with an amuse bouche, then tea and cake at daytime fixtures or a cheese course at evening fixtures. Inclusive bar, car park 8 parking, racecard and betting facilities.
• The Long View. Richmond Enclosure admission with exclusive access to the venue and a private balcony over the course. A welcome cocktail, a Chef's Table lunch, then tea and cake at daytime fixtures or sliders at evening fixtures. Inclusive bar, car park 8 parking, racecard and a betting facility.
• March Boxes. Private boxes in the March Grandstand carrying Richmond Enclosure admission, for up to twelve guests, each with its own balcony. South-facing boxes look over the Parade Ring and towards Chichester Harbour; course-facing boxes look over the track. Veuve Clicquot NV reception, a three-course plated or Chef's Table menu, afternoon tea at daytime fixtures or canapes at evening fixtures, inclusive bar, car park 8 parking, racecard, betting facilities and a resident tipster.
• Sussex Boxes. A course-facing private box and balcony in the Sussex Stand, carrying Richmond Enclosure admission and an inclusive private bar, with the same reception, menu and afternoon tea shape as the March Boxes.
• Sussex Boxes - Relaxed. A separate product in the centre of the Gordon Enclosure, carrying Gordon Enclosure admission, a course-facing box and balcony, a grazing menu of sharing plates and sweet treats, and a limited selection of beer, wine and soft drinks.
• The Double Trigger. A restaurant alongside the Horse Walk, looking over the Horse Walk and the Parade Ring, requiring a Richmond Enclosure ticket. A three-course a la carte menu and a table held for the day, with a pay bar rather than an inclusive one. Goodwood runs it on selected dates.

The Sussex Roof Garden and The Sussex Lounge Club sit in the Gordon Enclosure and include Gordon admission, a balcony and a shared space for the day, but Goodwood sells them under tickets and packages rather than under hospitality, and both run a pay bar. They are a different class of product from the inclusive-bar venues above.

What is not included?

None of Goodwood's published hospitality inclusion lists covers the journey there or back, a room for the night, or money staked on a race. The inclusive bar runs to house wine, beer, selected spirits and soft drinks and serves guests aged 18 and over, with identification sometimes asked for, which leaves premium spirits and off-list orders to be bought on the day. At The Sussex Roof Garden, The Sussex Lounge Club and The Double Trigger the bar is a pay bar, so drinks are not included at all.

The badge is the other limit. Your enclosure admission decides which parts of the racecourse you can reach all day, and a hospitality booking carries the badge its own venue carries, not the one you might assume from the stand it sits in.

Which enclosure does your hospitality sit in?

Goodwood Racecourse has three public enclosures, and the enclosure your hospitality carries decides your view, your walking route and your dress. The trap is assuming the stand predicts the badge. It does not: the Sussex Boxes sit in the Sussex Stand and carry Richmond Enclosure admission, while Sussex Boxes - Relaxed sits in the centre of the Gordon Enclosure and carries Gordon admission.

Richmond is Goodwood's premier enclosure, in the March Grandstand directly opposite the winning post and the Parade Ring. Goodwood lists prime views of the finish line, covered seating opposite the winning post, the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar, The Oak Tree Lawn, Parade and Pre-Parade Ring viewing, and pre-bookable hospitality dining.

Gordon is described by Goodwood as the social hub at the racecourse. It carries covered seating within the Sussex Stand, the Sussex Bar as its largest bar, the new Sip & Saddle Bar, live music, Parade and Pre-Parade Ring access, and trackside viewing inside the final furlong.

Lennox carries Goodwood's own label "Perfect for Families", with a large children's playground, flat grassy picnic spots near the course, covered seating with course views, and a fairground and children's activities at selected fixtures. Goodwood has published that the Lennox Enclosure Grandstand is "making way for an exciting new chapter at Goodwood Racecourse", so the enclosure is being renovated.

As everywhere on the racecourse, the bars named in these enclosures serve over-18s only and staff may ask for identification.

Dress follows the enclosure rather than the fixture. Hospitality guests follow the Richmond Enclosure dress code by default, except in The Sussex Roof Garden, The Sussex Lounge Club and the Sussex Boxes, which follow the Gordon guidance. The full rules, per enclosure, are set out in our guide to the Goodwood dress code and the three enclosures.

What makes the Goodwood course unusual?

Goodwood is not a galloping flat oval. It is a complex track with severe undulations and sharp turns. The six-furlong straight, the Stewards' Cup Course, runs uphill for the first furlong and mostly downhill after that, and a tight right-handed loop at the far end holds the starts for the longer distances. Four further configurations are named and used: the Craven Course over one mile two furlongs, the Gratwicke over one mile four furlongs, the Bentinck over one mile six furlongs and the Cup Course over two miles five furlongs.

The Bentinck name is not decoration. Lord George Bentinck introduced the first flag start on a British racecourse here, after a run of problematic starts. Above the course sits the Trundle, an Iron Age hill fort that is used as an informal grandstand with views of the whole course.

Goodwood is used for flat racing only. There are no jump fixtures at any point in the year.

When does Goodwood race?

Goodwood staged 19 racedays in 2025 across eight named fixtures, and offers hospitality at all of them. It put up £8.3 million in prize money in 2025, the figure Goodwood publishes on its own racing pages. Its record one-day crowd is 55,000, set in 1953, which is an attendance record rather than a measure of what the course holds. In Goodwood's own names, the season runs:

• Season Opener, two days in early May, with the Daisy Warwick Stakes and the Conqueror Stakes.
• May Festival, two days in late May, headlined by three listed races: the EBF Cocked Hat Stakes, a Derby trial, plus the Festival Stakes and the Height of Fashion Stakes.
• Family Race Day, a Sunday in June, a seven-race card including the Tapster Stakes and the listed Agnes Keyser Stakes, with the Lennox Enclosure and its playground for ages 4 to 12 at the centre of it.
• Three Friday Nights, three Friday evenings in June, and the only evening fixture Goodwood runs. Gates open at 16:00, racing finishes around 20:35, DJ sets start at 21:30 and the Parade Ring becomes a dancefloor. It is the one fixture where the free under-18 admission Goodwood applies elsewhere does not run, so it needs planning differently from every other date here.
• Qatar Goodwood Festival presented by Visit Qatar, five days at the end of July. All five are designated Premier Racedays, a label Goodwood applies to none of its other published fixtures. See Qatar Goodwood Festival hospitality and the Glorious Goodwood 2027 hospitality page.
• August Bank Holiday, three days, carrying the Group 2 Celebration Mile on the Saturday and the Group 3 Prestige Stakes for fillies and mares on the Sunday.
• Autumn Racing, two September days on a standard afternoon shape: gates 11:30, first race 13:30, last race 17:00, bars close 18:00 and gates close 18:30.
• Season Finale, a single Sunday in October.

Goodwood publishes the coming season's fixture dates on its own site. As at 7 September 2026, the only fixture carrying a published 2027 date is the Qatar Goodwood Festival at the end of July. The other seven are annual patterns until Goodwood dates them.

Is Goodwood Racecourse accessible?

Complimentary Blue Badge parking sits close to the racecourse entrances at the front of Car Parks 5 and 8, and should be booked with the racecourse in advance. A complimentary wheelchair-accessible mobility shuttle buggy runs from Car Park 8.

Three raised track viewing platforms serve the course, one per enclosure: Richmond in front of the Richmond Lawn Bar, Gordon in front of the Sussex Stand, and Lennox on the fence dividing the Gordon and Lennox enclosures. The Parade Ring is reachable by ramps on either side of the central Parade Ring Bar, which carry a raised viewing position.

Which stand your venue sits in decides one thing outright. Lifts operate in the March and Sussex Grandstands only. The Charlton Hunt sits on the first floor of a third stand, the Charlton Stand, so a guest who needs a lift is better placed in a March or Sussex Stand venue.

Five non-electric wheelchairs are held at the racecourse and can be booked in advance. Each enclosure has accessible toilets, opened with a Radar key: bring your own, with spares held at Racecourse Reception and stewards carrying keys for anyone without one. Hearing loops are at both the East and West Entrances. Assistance dogs are welcome, with consent applied for before the event. A complimentary Essential Companion ticket is available to a disabled guest who cannot attend without support, on production of a valid Nimbus Access Card or Goodwood Digital Access Pass carrying the +1 symbol.

Autism in Racing provides a dedicated sensory space and quiet room on selected racedays, arranged through Racecourse Reception. Goodwood does not publish which fixtures those are, so it is worth asking for the date you are looking at. First aid is available in each enclosure with a roaming medical team, and a Transport Terminus near the East Entrance serves taxis, buses and accessible drop-off. Goodwood also publishes a downloadable accessibility guide covering all of this in full.

How do you get to Goodwood Racecourse?

The postal address is Goodwood Racecourse, Selhurstpark Rd, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0PS. The course sits up on the Downs above Chichester, and vehicle access runs off Selhurst Park Road and Kennel Hill Road, with separate entrances serving different enclosures.

Chichester is the nearest railway station, with trains from London Victoria and services from Brighton and Portsmouth. A shuttle bus runs between Chichester Train Station North Car Park and the racecourse on a raceday, departing at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour from 10.15am until 1.15pm. Return buses leave from outside the Gordon Enclosure East Entrance through the day, and the last return leaves 60 minutes after the final race. Arrive at Chichester after 1.15pm and there is no shuttle to catch, so a guest on a later train needs a taxi from the station.

Taxi arrival is split by enclosure. Gordon and Lennox guests are set down at the East Entrance off Selhurst Park Road, Richmond guests at the West Entrance off Kennel Hill Road. Goodwood Aerodrome sits on the same estate and takes both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, arranged through the aerodrome directly.

Two things to tell guests before they set off: Goodwood is a cashless venue, so bring a card or a phone rather than notes, and glass is not permitted on site.

The full journey, in both directions, is set out in our guide to getting to Goodwood Racecourse and home again.

Where do you park at Goodwood Racecourse?

Goodwood runs both complimentary and paid-for car parks around the racecourse, with access to all enclosures. Hospitality bookings at the venues above carry a car park 8 pass on their published inclusion lists, so a hospitality party normally parks without arranging anything separately.

The Three Furlong Picnic Car Park is bookable in advance and sits right on the rails at the three-furlong point, overlooking the racecourse, with Lennox Enclosure admission included for up to four adults.