New Book Documents the Architectural Development of Thoroughbred Race Tracks

Feb. 1, 2013 - PRLog -- Acanthus Press (New York) and Turnberry Consulting (London) announce the release of Racecourse Architecture, the first comprehensive survey of racecourse buildings across the world throughout the past four centuries. Written by Paul Roberts who has been involved in the planning and designing of racecourses for many years, and Isabelle Taylor, the new book charts the hitherto untold story of the grandstands, clubhouses, saddling sheds, totalizators and other associated structures that evoke in bricks and mortar the rich history of thoroughbred racing.

Racecourses are the stage upon which the drama of the thoroughbred is played out, and their buildings are crucial ingredients in creating the pageantry and theater that are integral to the popularity of the sport. While the best designed racecourse in the world would struggle to attract spectators if it failed to host good racing, physical setting can make or break a racegoer’s experience. Design is the key to creating the raceday experience that draws spectators, jockeys, owners, and trainers to the world’s best racecourses again and again. Yet the architecture of thoroughbred racecourses has not been extensively covered in the chronicles of sporting architecture or in the plentiful literature about racing.

Racecourse Architecture sets out to redress this neglect. In two sections, it recounts the history of thoroughbred racecourse architecture, first charting the dramatic shifts in the nature of racecourse environments over the sport’s lifetime, and secondly profiling eight individual tracks in a series of case studies. Formulated to complement the chronology, the case studies offer a deeper look at some of the most important eras and racecourses in the long and varied trajectory of racing architecture. Featured sites include the Hippodrome de Chantilly (France), the remarkably beautiful Club Hipico de Santiago (Chile), Gordon Kauffman’s Art Deco masterpiece, Santa Anita Park (California), and the glass-and-steel Singapore Turf Club complex in Kranji (Singapore).

Publication date: March 15, 2013

11.2” X 9.4”, 272 pages

Hardcover: $65

180 photographs, 95 in color

ISBN: 978-0-926494-83-1

Praise for Racecourse Architecture:

“Racecourses as an architectural genre have been ignored for so many years. It is therefore a welcomed treat to view a book that is so beautifully compiled, wonderfully illustrated, well researched, and brings out the depth and complexity of the subject on an international basis.” ―Rod Sheard, Senior Principal of Populous and designer of London and Sydney Olympic Stadiums

“This is a hugely important book and will be very valuable to anybody lucky enough to be redeveloping their racecourse for the next generation of horsemen and racegoers. It is a tool which we would dearly have loved to have had when we rebuilt Ascot Racecourse in the early part of this century.  I congratulate the authors and publishers for the exhaustive research that has gone into this work.” ― The Duke of Devonshire, former Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot

Paul Roberts is a director of Turnberry Consulting, a London-based development strategy consultancy created to assist landowners to develop real estate projects driven by quality and functionality. Roberts has extensive experience acting as strategic consultant to racecourses, including Ascot and York Racecourses in the UK, Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland, and Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park in New York.

Isabelle Taylor read for a BA in the History of Art at the University of Cambridge, followed by an MA in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art. The pair has previously jointly authored The Spa: Saratoga’s Legendary Race Course (2011), an architectural history of Saratoga Race Course, and University Planning and Architecture: The Search for Perfection (2010), a historical study of the architecture of universities from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century.