By Cornelius Lysaght BBC racing correspondent

Beauty contests are rather out of favour these days, but I hope that the PC police will allow me to discuss the vital statistics of Britain's racecourses.

The 59 come in all shapes and sizes.

Some are big and wide, others small and pokey. Some are suburban, while others are strikingly rural, of which many are beautiful

But the word "stunning" is reserved for about three of them.

Goodwood is as pretty as a picture

Chepstow, nestling in the shadow of the Forest of Dean, on the border of England and South Wales, and Hexham, found at one of the very highest points of Northumberland, are in the frame without quite making the top spot.

That accolade goes to Goodwood, in its heady downland location above the cathedral city of Chichester, in West Sussex.

It is the only course in the country which makes one want to be capable of wielding a paintbrush so as to be able to capture the scene.

Any palette would need to have all sorts of colours to cover everything from the bright skies, to the patchwork quilt of fields and the grassy track that snakes its way towards the magnificent white of the grandstands.

And then there is the aqua blue of the Solent shimmering in the distance, to think about.

Ian Balding will retire at the end of the year

Truly, Glorious Goodwood.

Despite being a race meeting that anyone prepared to pay the price on the gate may attend, Goodwood has a very special type of atmosphere, probably because it takes place on the estate of, and is run by, the Duke of Richmond and his family.

It feels like their special party in a rarefied world into which you can arrive and close out the horrors of modern life.

His Grace is ever present, wandering around the enclosures, with the look of a kindly country parson making sure that everything is tickety-boo at his church fete.

You half expect to see a tombola sharing the winner's enclosure with successful Goodwood jockeys, like Pat Eddery, or trainers, like Ian Balding.

The setting is perfect for a flutter

It was because Balding considers the big, end of July spectacular as such an important highlight of the Flat racing summer that he chose this week to announce his retirement at the end of the year.

After something like 38 seasons at his Kingsclere stables, near Newbury, Balding, 64 in November, is to hand over the licence to his son Andrew.

With his wife, Emma, a successful breeder of racehorses and Clare, their daughter, the face of racing on BBC television, they are quite a dynasty.

Goodwood has always been a favourite for Balding senior, who has saddled just under a century of winners at the Sussex course and he is expected to sign off in style.

Several of his horses are believed to have fine chances, not least, I hear, Dubaian Gift who will be in action on Saturday afternoon.

I hope that he wins for us, but whatever happens, it is said that Goodwood is such a beautiful place that it makes losing your money almost bearable.

Important use of "almost", obviously, but just one visit to this spectacular course will at least begin to make non-regulars realise exactly what the writer meant.