Steeplechase
H15 · Fair Staples & Regional Heroes
H15 · № 119/150
Steeplechase
Blackpool Pleasure Beach · GB · Arrow Development Triple-track steeplechase (horse-racing) coaster
“Three rails, three horses, and the Promenade cheering them home.”
UNOFFICIAL · NOT PARK-ENDORSED
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Also at Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Also by Arrow Development
Also from GB
Fast facts
- Opened in 1977 at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, where it is still operating. coasterpedia.net
- Arrow Development built Steeplechase as a steel, triple-track racing coaster. coasterpedia.net
- The ride has three parallel tracks and no inversions. coasterpedia.net
- Its height is 30 feet, or 9.1 metres. en.wikipedia.org
- Its listed top speed is 25 mph, or 40 km/h. en.wikipedia.org
- Each horse-shaped car seats two riders inline, with a 127 cm minimum rider height. coasterpedia.net
- THOOZIE records about 1,400 riders per hour and a build cost of about $1.42 million, converted from the recorded £813,000 cost. en.wikipedia.org
The story of Steeplechase
Blackpool Pleasure Beach had long enjoyed American showmanship beside the Lancashire shore, and Steeplechase fitted that tradition neatly. In 1977, Arrow Development supplied a steel racing coaster in which visitors rode astride horse-shaped cars rather than sitting in conventional coaster seats. coasterpedia.net· riderater.co.uk
The opening had a proper sporting flourish. Red Rum, winner of the 1977 Grand National, attended the ceremony, and his hoof print became part of the ride’s story at the Pleasure Beach. coasterpedia.net· racingpost.com
Arrow’s Steeplechase idea was rare even in its own day. Coasterpedia records only two installations of the product: the 1976 Wacky Soap Box Racers at Knott’s Berry Farm, now closed, and Blackpool’s 1977 Steeplechase, still running. coasterpedia.net
Today the ride remains one of the Pleasure Beach’s most particular seaside survivals: three tracks running in company, two chain lifts per track, and a race that feels quite at home among Blackpool’s crowded old paths and later steel landmarks. coasterpedia.net· blooloop.com
Sources
- coasterpedia.net Preferred source
- en.wikipedia.org Acceptable source
- riderater.co.uk Acceptable source
- racingpost.com Acceptable source
- coasterpedia.net Preferred source
- blooloop.com Acceptable source