One of the highlights of the Chester Racecourse calendar has to be the prestige of polo on the centre of the Roodee.
The wealthy jet setters and partners jet into the beautiful and historic Roman city for the weekend to show their horse skills at The Coutts International Polo Weekend.
Any visit to Chester is only complete with a visit to Chester Racecourse whether it be for the exhilarating horse racing, a meal at the wonderful 1539 restaurant or to watch international polo at its best.
Teams come into Chester via Manchester airport from as far as New Zealand, India and Argentina.
This is one of the top polo competitions of the year and attracts big crowds of spectators this shining another unique spotlight on this jewel of a northern city.
The CEO of Chester racecourse is Richard Thomas who plays for a polo team himself and is very much an advocate of polo in the Cathedral city.
In the past over 5000 people have attended the racecourse to watch the spectacle and if the sunshine is good numbers could be even higher this year.
Coutts, bankers to the monarch are delighted to be sponsoring such a prestigious tournament as polo in Chester.
Chester is the ideal place as it was in February 1539, in the reign of Henry the 8th when the first race took place there.
This is the 6th year of Coutt's sponsored polo in Chester and tickets start from general admission £5 with children under sixteen free which promotes a great family day out at the Roodee.
The site of the event is on the famous Roodee which lies close to the banks of the River Dee.
Now a famous racecourse, this area was originally a harbour during the Roman garrison during the Dark Ages, but was closed as the river became silted up and boats could no longer navigate this stretch of river.
Near the east walled side of the Roodee there is a small sandstone landmark called a "rood" and this is where the Roodee get sits name.
Roodee means The Island of the Cross.
There are two stories about the Roodee.
The first says the Rood is where the statue of the Virgin Mary is buried, sentenced to hang after causing the death of the wife of the Governor of Hawarden.
The legend states she had gone to church to pray for rain but when her prayers were answered by a tremendous thunderstorm the statue was loosened and fell, killing her.
As a holy item, hanging or burning the statue would be sacrilege so the statue was left by the river and the tide took it down to Chester.
In another version of the story, the statue was taken to St John's church nearby and tossed as a relic of popery, used as a whipping post for scholars and burned.
The wealthy jet setters and partners jet into the beautiful and historic Roman city for the weekend to show their horse skills at The Coutts International Polo Weekend.
Any visit to Chester is only complete with a visit to Chester Racecourse whether it be for the exhilarating horse racing, a meal at the wonderful 1539 restaurant or to watch international polo at its best.
Teams come into Chester via Manchester airport from as far as New Zealand, India and Argentina.
This is one of the top polo competitions of the year and attracts big crowds of spectators this shining another unique spotlight on this jewel of a northern city.
The CEO of Chester racecourse is Richard Thomas who plays for a polo team himself and is very much an advocate of polo in the Cathedral city.
In the past over 5000 people have attended the racecourse to watch the spectacle and if the sunshine is good numbers could be even higher this year.
Coutts, bankers to the monarch are delighted to be sponsoring such a prestigious tournament as polo in Chester.
Chester is the ideal place as it was in February 1539, in the reign of Henry the 8th when the first race took place there.
This is the 6th year of Coutt's sponsored polo in Chester and tickets start from general admission £5 with children under sixteen free which promotes a great family day out at the Roodee.
The site of the event is on the famous Roodee which lies close to the banks of the River Dee.
Now a famous racecourse, this area was originally a harbour during the Roman garrison during the Dark Ages, but was closed as the river became silted up and boats could no longer navigate this stretch of river.
Near the east walled side of the Roodee there is a small sandstone landmark called a "rood" and this is where the Roodee get sits name.
Roodee means The Island of the Cross.
There are two stories about the Roodee.
The first says the Rood is where the statue of the Virgin Mary is buried, sentenced to hang after causing the death of the wife of the Governor of Hawarden.
The legend states she had gone to church to pray for rain but when her prayers were answered by a tremendous thunderstorm the statue was loosened and fell, killing her.
As a holy item, hanging or burning the statue would be sacrilege so the statue was left by the river and the tide took it down to Chester.
In another version of the story, the statue was taken to St John's church nearby and tossed as a relic of popery, used as a whipping post for scholars and burned.