Earliest meeting: Monday 22nd July 1861
Final meeting under rules: 13th April 1927
Mention the Hampshire town of Aldershot and the first thing that comes to mind is the Army. Indeed the first Flat racing to take place in the town was on the edge of the Army Camp on Aldershot Heath on Monday 22nd July 1861, and racing continued at this venue for 20 years before a final meeting on 23rd July 1881. However, prior to this spell of 'official' Flat racing there was a series of race meetings organised by the Officers in the local Garrison. The earliest record of such races was a two day meeting on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd May 1856 on an oval, one mile course with straight half mile run-in, in Long Valley near Caesar's Camp hill. The Officers borrowed the necessary equipment to stage the meeting from nearby Odiham Racecourse, and full results from the meeting are shown below, courtesy of the British Library Online. Such was the success of the meeting that a second meeting was planned some months later, although no actual race details are available. Furthermore, it is believed that a further Garrison meeting was held the next year in May 1857, although once again no firm details are available. During this spell there was a single National Hunt meeting on 12th April 1867. The land on which that first course was laid out became an Army Training ground, while a new course, the Tweseldown course situated approximately 3 miles from Aldershot near the village of Church Crookham, opened in 1884. From 1892 until 1920 Royal Artillery meetings were staged on this course, although the last official meeting under rules took place on 13th April 1927. Between 1928 and 1939 Bona Fide Hunt meetings were organised and afterwards point to point meetings took place until the final meeting on 4th March 2012.
The extracts shown below are from Bell's Life and the Sporting Chronicle of Sunday 25th May 1856 and are shown courtesy of the British Library Online.
As well as the final results from the two-day meeting, a further newspaper extract shows that a subscription to purchase the prizes was raised in Farnham prior to the Royal Artillery troop leaving that town and making their way to the Camp at Aldershot.
The Farnborough Cup over 1 mile
1. Audrey, 5 year old brown mare owned by Major Johnson, 9th Lancers
2. Vesper, 4 year old bay mare owned by Captain Bland, 25th Regiment
3. Bankrupt, aged chestnut horse owned by Mr Starkey, 9th Lancers
Wednesday 11th July 1866
The Farnborough Cup over 1 ¼ miles
1. Wildair owned by Captain Morgan
2. Conjuror owned by Magenis
3. Lily of the Long Valley owned by Captain Burke
The Aldershot Town Plate over a mile
1. Varnish owned by Captain Willans
2. Lightland owned by Mr Le Messurier
3. Wildair owned by Captain Morgan
Very grateful thanks to Tom Jones for providing the following details of the Aldershot racemeeting of 1878:-
WEDNESDAY 24th APRIL 1878
ALDERSHOT CUP over 2 miles 4 furlongs
1. KENILWORTH 13 st 3 lb Mr W Hope Johnstone
2. GIL BLAS 10 st 7 lb Mr Blair
3. MOONSTONE 11 st 12 lb Mr Owen
5/4 Kenilworth 4/1 Gil Blas 4/1 Moonstone
YEOMANRY STEEPLECHASE 3 miles
1. LARDY DARDY 12 st Mr G Blagrave
2. DIZZY 13 st Mr Peake
3. LOUISE 11 st 7 lb Mr H B Meux
6/4 fav Lardy Dardy won by 6 lengths
MILITARY HUNT STEEPLECHASE 2 miles 4 furlongs
1. CAMARGO 12 st 3 lb Mr Waldron
2. KILBRIDE 12 st 3 lb Mr A S Napier
3. SEMIRAMIS 11 st 8 lb Mr W J Irwin
4. JOVIAL 12 st 3 lb Mr H Brocklehurst
2/1 Semiramis 4/1 Florence 5/1 Little Monkey 6/1 Camargo
HUNTER'S PLATE 2 miles
1. RAINBOW 12 st Mr F G Blair
2. BESS 12 st Captain Helyar
3. ALLAN-A-DALE 12 st Mr Gough
6/4 fav Rainbow 3/1 Wild Wind 5/1 Little Gun
I am grateful to Andy Thrower for the scan of the rare Aldershot Divisional Steeplechase meeting from 1887. This Divisional meeting on Tuesday 3rd May 1887 had a number of interesting facts associated with it.
- There was a four-timer for Captain E R Owen;
- Durdans ran 2 miles in a selling hurdle, followed within an hour a 2 mile selling steeplechase. Did his owner want to get rid of him whatever the obstacles put in place?
- The famous, wealthy, notorious George A Baird, The Squire, rode in 2 races, finishing second in both. He was based at Bedford Lodge in Newmarket, now the most stylish hotel in the town.
Tuesday 3rd May 1887
Aldershot Steeplechase Cup over 3 miles
- Meerschaum owned by Captain Fisher and ridden by Captain E R Owen
- Garnet owned and ridden by George A Baird
- Janny Lang owned by Captain Troyte-Bullock and ridden by Mr Mesham
Betting 2/1 Meerschaum, 3/1 Patrick, 6/1 Zulu Chief, 8/1 Brigand, 10/1 Garnet, Janny Lang
Open Military Steeple Chase over 3 miles
- Mario owned by Mr Jenkins and ridden by Captain E R Owen
- Baby owned by Mr J East and ridden by Captain B La Terrier
- Western owned by Captain Spencer and ridden by Mr Kavannagh
Betting 2/1 Nutley, 3/1 Harlequin, 6/1 Mario, 7/1 Maasland, 10/1 Baby, Western
Selling Hurdle Race over 2 miles
- Signal Shot owned by Mr Collis and ridden by Captain E R Owen
- Durdans owned and ridden by Mr Beever
- Piute owned and ridden by Mr Daniels
Betting 6/4 Durdans, 4/1 Lament, Signal Shot, 6/1 Piute
Welter Steeple Chase over 2 1/2 miles
1. Dutchman owned by Captain Cunliffe and ridden by Mr Best
2. Kestrel owned and ridden by Captain Bather
3. Cork owned and ridden by Mr Collis
Betting 5/4 Cork, 3/1 Kestrel, 4/1 Dutchman
Selling Steeple Chase over 2 miles
1. Amazon owned and ridden by Captain Wogan-Browne
2. Durdans owned and ridden by Mr Beever
3. Exchange owned and ridden by Mr Atkinson
Betting 5/2 Amazon, Durdans, 4/1 Sprig, 10/1 Exchange
Hunters Flat Race over 2 miles
1. Aramis owned by Captain Jones and ridden by Captain E R Owen
2. Playfair owned and ridden by George A Baird
3. Nudge owned by Captain Middleton and ridden by Mr Adams
Betting 2/7 Aramis, 9/2 Playfair, 10/1 Nudge
The term 'bona-fide' means actual or real, and solved an issue which arose between point-to-point winners and horses which won under National Hunt Rules. The National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup, a race run more often than any other at the Cheltenham Festival, was first contested in 1860 at Market Harborough, and was held at various racecourses which no longer exist as 'official' racecourses. It was staged in 1862 at Market Harborough again, and at Bedford (1867 & 1868), Burton Lazars (1871 & 1901) which gives a flavour of where it was run. However, from 1911 it has been staged at Cheltenham as part of the Cheltenham Festival. When considering entries, it was found there was an anomaly between point-to-point winners and National Hunt racecourse winners, and that National Hunt winners were precluded. However, to overcome this problem, the National Hunt Committee stated that winners at Bona-fide meetings were not considered to be a victory, and therefore did not disqualify entry. This led to a number of courses, Eridge and Aldershot amongst them, choosing to adhere to National Hunt Rules, yet calling themselves 'Bona-Fide meetings' to ensure that winners were not barred from entering races like the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup. In 1923, for example, Grafton Hunt, Eridge Hunt, West Norfolk Hunt, Herefordshire Hunt, Union Hunt, and later Aldershot held their meetings under National Hunt Rules using the banner 'Bona-Fide meeting'.
Although the last official meeting took place on 13th April 1927, Military meetings took place up to 1939, and the course still exists, managed by the British Horse Society.
Much of the information about this course has been found using internet research and is in the public domain. However, useful research sources have been:-
London Illustrated News
Racing Illustrated 1895-1899
The Sporting & Dramatic Illustrated
Northern Turf History Volumes 1-4 by J.Fairfax-Blakeborough
The Sporting Magazine
A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt first published in 1996 ISBN 0 900599 89 8
Racing Calendars which were first published in 1727
