Newbury Racecourse Scores 90% In RCA Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme And Retains ROA Gold Standard Award

Newbury Racecourse is proud to announce it has achieved a score of 90% or higher in the Racecourse Association (RCA) 2025 Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme (QARS), officially denoting ‘excellence’ in the raceday experience offered to customers.

Newbury is one of just 14 racecourses across Britain to reach this prestigious benchmark in 2025, following comprehensive ‘mystery shop’ style assessments conducted by The AA, the UK’s leading provider of professional assessment and accreditation within the hospitality industry.

The QARS assessments evaluate every aspect of the raceday journey – from pre-event communications and arrival experience to facilities, catering, customer service and post-event engagement. The average score for British racecourses in 2025 was 85.7%, representing a 0.9% increase on 2024, highlighting Newbury’s performance as significantly above the national benchmark.

Racecourses achieving elite status demonstrated exceptional customer service, outstanding site presentation, innovative and targeted raceday marketing, and a diverse, high-quality food and beverage offering across multiple price points.

In addition to its overall excellence rating, Newbury was awarded an RCA Excellence Accolade for Staff Customer Service – recognition reserved for racecourses that scored particularly high in specific areas, which are paramount to the raceday experience.

This follows the Racecourse being named winner of the Racing Post Readers’ Award and crowned Racecourse Groundstaff Champion in November 2025.

Paul Swain, Head of Raceday Experience & Communications at the RCA, commented: “I am delighted to see the overall scores for raceday experience increase year-on-year as confirmed by The AA, an objective, leading authority. The mix of venues scoring over 90% reflects the unique atmosphere and experience offered by Britain’s racecourses; be it jump or flat, summer or winter, north or south – customers can be sure of a fantastic experience when they go racing.”

Simon Numphud, Managing Director of AA Media, commented: “It has been a real testament to the racecourses that 2025 saw an increase in the overall quality scores, when the scoring thresholds have been increased across the board, truly highlighting the hard work and commitment that each racecourse and their respective teams strive for.”

Shaun Hinds, Chief Executive at Newbury Racecourse, commented: “We are delighted to have been recognised once again by the RCA Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme. We’ve worked hard to ensure our raceday experience is as good as it can be as well as constantly evolving it to meet the changing consumer expectations. We try and position ourselves as the friendly racecourse and so to receive the customer service accolade is a credit to all our team and the efforts they make each raceday. We understand that consumers have a choice about where they spend their money and commit their time and this recognition is critical to us to ensure we are making the right progress.”

Newbury has also retained its Gold Standard Award in the 2025 racecourse assessment scheme run by the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA), reinforcing its commitment to delivering an exceptional experience for owners and trainers.

Of the 60 racecourses assessed, 35 achieved Gold Standard status in 2025. To qualify, racecourses were required to:

· Achieve a quality score of at least 85%
· Receive an owner feedback score of 4 or higher
· Obtain a minimum of 40 pieces of owner feedback across the year

Newbury finished in the top ten among all Gold Standard racecourses with outstanding scores achieved across multiple categories, including:

· Venue Exit: 100% (up from 90% in 2024; industry average 88%)
· Food & Drink: 100% (up from 95% in 2024; industry average 89%)

The combined recognition from the RCA, The AA and the ROA underlines Newbury Racecourse’s ongoing commitment to delivering excellence for racegoers, owners, trainers and participants alike.

2026 FIXTURES