Southwell Racecourse

{{Short description|Horse racing venue in Nottinghamshire, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}

{{Infobox UK Racecourse

| Name = Southwell

| Image = The stands, Southwell Racecourse - geograph.org.uk - 50231.jpg

| Caption =

| Website = http://www.southwell-racecourse.co.uk

| Location = Southwell, Nottinghamshire

| Coordinates = {{coord|53|04|10|N|0|54|22|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}

| Owner = Arena Racing Company

| Opened =

| Channel = Sky Sports Racing

| CourseType = Flat (all-weather)
National Hunt

| NotableRaces =

| Prev = Sedgefield

| Next = Stratford-on-Avon

}}

Southwell Racecourse ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aʊ|θ|w|ə|l|,_|-|w|ɛ|l}} {{respell|SOWTH|wəl|,_-|wel}}, {{IPAc-en|local|also|ˈ|s|ʌ|ð|əl}} {{respell|SUDH|əl}}) is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located {{convert|2|mi|0}} east of Southwell in Nottinghamshire, England. It is one of only six racecourses in the UK to have an all-weather track and is one of three courses in the UK with a Tapeta surface. Southwell previously used a track surface of Fibresand, a mixture of sand and wispy fibres before changing to Tapeta (a mixture of sand, wax and fibre) in 2021.{{cite web |last1=Burn |first1=James |title=Bookies back Southwell's Tapeta switch with hopes of better turnover and quality |url=https://www.racingpost.com/news/latest/bookies-back-southwells-tapeta-switch-with-hopes-of-better-turnover-and-quality/463506 |publisher=Racing Post |access-date=14 December 2020 |date=14 December 2020}}

National Hunt racing on a turf course also takes place at Southwell. In 2007, the Great Yorkshire Chase (now Skybet Chase) was held at Southwell, while Doncaster Racecourse was closed for redevelopment.

Southwell racecourse will always be associated with female jockey Hayley Turner, who grew up locally and had her first job in racing with a trainer based adjacent to the track.

The racecourse was forced to close temporarily in December 2012 when flooding caused major damage to both the track and the buildings on site.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/20509118|title=Southwell racecourse closed by flooding until February|date=Dec 3, 2012|accessdate=Oct 3, 2019|via=www.bbc.co.uk}} Meetings scheduled for the all-weather flat course were transferred to Wolverhampton and Lingfield. The course successfully re-opened on 5 February 2013 with a seven-race flat meeting. Initial meetings following the re-opening had a limited capacity while renovations continued.