Talk of the Course - Episode 3 - Raceday Experience & Sandown Park Racecourse

This episode is the first of three focussing on the RCA’s Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme (QARS) and raceday experience. The QARS is the RCA’s long running assessment scheme for raceday experience and see’s every RCA member racecourse receive a raceday audit from an expert, independent third-party assessor.  This episode of Talk of the Course features an interview with Sarah Drabwell, General Manager at Sandown Park Racecourse. Sandown Park was one of just 14 racecourses in Britain to score in excess of 90% in its 2025 assessment, and was also named joint most improved racecourse after an 8 percentage point increase in score year-on-year. Sarah joins us to explain the racecourse’s mindset towards experience, how the team encourage and utilise customer feedback, and how the racecourse is putting the horse and local community at the heart of what it does. Finally, the episode concludes with the #QuickFireFive, with Sarah discussing his all-time favourite racehorse to appear at Sandown Park and what she does to celebrate a successful raceday. Talk of the Course is designed to shed a light on the best practice emanating from racecourse teams across the country, covering all aspects of racecourse operation. It is written, produced and hosted by the RCA’s executive team.