Haydock Park Racecourse is in Merseyside, England. The racecourse is set in an area of parkland bounded by the towns of Haydock to the west, Ashton-in-Makerfield to the north, Golborne to the east and Newton-le-Willows to the south. Horse racing had been run in the area for many years (the great racemare Queen of Trumps won at Newton in 1836), and the venue was also used for Hare coursing in the 1880s. The current racecourse was opened in 1899. Much of the course's early development was overseen by Sydney Sandon, who served as course secretary, chairman and managing director in the early 20th century. The track is a mostly flat left-handed oval of around 1 mile 5 furlongs with a slight rise on the four and a half fulrong run-in. An extension to the straight allows sprints of up to six furlongs to be run on a straight coures. There are courses for flat racing and National Hunt racing.