With a new Clerk of the Course, Eloise Quayle, and a newly introduced role of Racing Director* for Patrick Chesters, the Racing Department looks well-placed to bring in the new season at Chester Racecourse during next week’s Boodles May Festival.
While Chesters has been part of the team at Chester for over a decade, in both a consultancy and contracted basis, Quayle has moved to the northwest over the closed season and looks upon her new role with great excitement.
Quayle commented, “Since I qualified as a Clerk in 2018 I have worked at a variety of different racecourses but to arrive at Chester, such a prestigious and historical Flat turf course, is hugely exciting. I cannot wait for the season to start next week, on what is shaping up to be a fabulous three days.
“My vision and hope for Chester is to continue to maintain and, if possible, improve the exceptionally high standards that the racecourse has set out for itself. To date, the team at Chester have produced an excellent racing surface for the horses, facilities for the horseman and raceday experience for the owners and racegoers alike. The way that Chester operates, with excellent facilities, investment in prize money, the infrastructure and racecourse itself, is all top quality, so it is incredibly exciting to join a forward thinking, progressive team with the aim of delivering racing to large crowds.”
Eloise will form part of the Racing Department at the track, headed by Patrick Chesters, whose background sits within the bookmaking industry. His first visit to a racecourse was Chester, many years ago, and so he has fond memories of the course before he became an integral part of the team. Chesters commented,
“It may be obvious to say, but I have loved all my years at Chester and so couldn’t be more excited to be starting in this new role as Racing Director. All of us here at Chester are proud of the racing product that we host across the Flat season and we will, no doubt, start with a bang next week.
“Racing is a sport that I am passionate about and have a wide variety of experience in over many years. The creation and development of Chester Bet is just as important to us as areas such as Race Planning and so to carve out this dedicated role focusing on these areas is a really important and strong step for the racecourse.”
Patrick and Eloise are supported by a well experienced groundstaff team, lead by Head Groundsman Andrew Malan, who has been with the business for over 30 years.
* Patrick is Racing Director across Chester Race Group, which encompasses Chester, Bangoe-on-Dee and Musselburgh Racecourses.
The Boodles May Festival takes place next week, 7-9 May with the highlight race on the card being the Ladbrokes Chester Cup. For further information please visit www.chester-races.com
Eloise Quayle Biog
Having run a small sheep farm with her mother in her teens, Eloise studied Biology at Newcastle University and on graduating went to work for Ben Pauling. She started with Ben as Stable Staff before being promoted to Travelling Head Girl for three years. Working for Ben gave Eloise a really good grounding in the industry and what was meant to be a gap year turned into three years.
By 2017, Eloise was ready for a new challenge. She moved to Windsor as the trainee Clerk of the Course before qualifying in time for the 2018 Flat season. In 2019, she then went onto Uttoxeter and was Clerk of the Course there for three years before moving on to Newcastle towards the end of 2021. The move to Newcastle not only took Eloise closer to home but also allowed her to get back in touch with Flat racing, which she had very much enjoyed at Windsor.
Eloise considers herself to be very lucky, having been brought up on a farm with horses at home but also to have had family with a love of horseracing. Her grandma had shares in horses and her mother and grandma bred their own dual-purpose horse. They travelled the country to race meetings and festivals, including Chester, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
The love for horses was definitely the driving motivator to be involved in racing, but Eloise also highlights the professionalism of the sport shown in the care of horses and all of the component parts that lead to these stunning, athletic creatures running in races at the racecourse.
Patrick Chesters Biog
Patrick started his career as an independent bookmaker with a small chain of shops in the northwest. In 2012, when Chester decided to create its own betting platform, Chester Bet, Patrick was brought onto the team as a consultant to get the new betting operation in place. It was 7 years ago that Patrick joined the team on a full time basis and has spent that time as Head of Gaming, as well as General Manager of Bangor Racecourse, which forms part of Chester Race Company. Over the winter months Patrick was appointed to his current position, a new role within the business.
Over the course of Patrick’s involvement within racing he has undertaken many roles and so sees himself as someone who has experience across many of the different areas of the industry. In addition to his roles above he is a racehorse owner and rides in Point To Points.
The role of Racing Director includes many areas including media rights, industry relationship management, Gaming and Chester Bet, race planning and participants experience. It is his responsibility to ensure that the racing product sits at the heart of the business and to champion the voice of racing locally.
The Racecourse, Chester, CH1 2LY
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