So I was looking up the addresses on Google maps of some relatives of mine that are scattered around the globe. I was surprised to find out that one of them lives real close to a major racecourse. So I got inquisitive and starting dragging my way back and forth across the earth to see if i could some of the world’s major racetracks.
Here’s a few that I found. It’s cool too look at them from above. You can double click on the map to zoom in.
Churchill Downs, home of the Derby.
Saratoga, if you drag the map just north or south there are two other tracks, I imagine one is the Oklahoma training track, what’s the other?
Arlington Park, just north of Chicago.
Belmont, the don’t call it Big Sandy for nothing.
Newmarket , the spiritual home of racing. Massive course. The buildings in the centre are the stands on the Rowley Mile course, the smaller buildings lower down are the stands on the July course. Both courses are L-shaped and share the first straight mile stretch.
Sha Tin , Hong Kong’s crown jewel.
San Siro in Milan, the large square looking stadium just south of the racecourse is the famous San Siro football stadium where AC Milan and Inter play.
Ascot the home of the Royal meet. This satellite picture was obviously taken a couple of years ago when Ascot was undergoing major renovations. The brown strip to to the east is the straight Mile course.
Glorious Goodwood sits in a bucolic setting in the Sussex Downs. Shape of the course is somewhat unusual. For long distance races like the Goodwood Cup, they start in front of the stands gallop out lefthanded and go around the loop and finish the race in the opposite direction they started on.
Epsom, home of the Derby.
Leopardstown, on the southside of Dublin, used to have a sprint chute that extended from the bottom of the stretch, but the motorway took part of that away.
Google maps doesn’t have good maps for rural Ireland, so can’t really show the Curragh.
Longchamp, right in middle of the Bois du Bologne in the centre of Paris. Perhaps the most beautiful racecourse in the world, though hard to really appreciate from an aerial view.
Auteuil, also in Paris and ground zero for French jump racing, has a figure-of-8 shaped course. Just to show how close Longchamp/Auteuil are, not much more than a mile or so apart.
Windsor, another figure-of-8 shaped course, close to Windsor Castle.
Cheltenham, the Mecca for jump racing worldwide.
Aintree, home of the Grand National, the large loop that extends off to the East is the National course, the 90 turn in the top right corner is the Canal turn.
Flemington, home to the “race that stops a nation”, the Melbourne Cup.
Moonee Valley, somewhat unusually shaped course, like a rectangle, where some of Australia’s biggest races, including the Cox Plate, are held.
Santa Anita, with the hillside Turf course prominently displayed.
Hollywood Park, SA’s close neighbour in Inglewood
Del Mar, surf and turf, drag the map to the west to see the Pacific ocean.
Aqueduct, with it’s three courses, inner and outer dirt and turf.
Tokyo Racecourse, home of the Japan Cup among others, an American oval style but with the 12f Turf on the outside, a dirt track inside that and an inner turf for jump racing (you can actually see the jumps on the course).
Nad al Sheba, the home of the world’s richest race, the Dubai World Cup, a triangular shaped track with a 6f sprint chute.
Woodbine , in Toronto, the big sweeping EP Taylor turf course outside of the Polytrack oval.
San Isidro, Argentina’s premier track, has both Sand and Turf courses.
Gavea, just outside of Rio de Janiero, Brasil’s premier track.
The Yaddo art colony is to the immediate right of that stable facility.