There is evidence that a permanent track existed in Beverley as early as 1690 on Westwood and Hurn meadows, and by 1740 Robert Norris was made Clerk of the Course at Beverley. The first results to be included in Baily's Racing Register were from the meeting held in early Spring 1730, with results shown below. A 3 day meeting was held in June 1731 and results from that meeting are spread throughout the scans of the Members badges illustrated below. The first grandstand was constructed in 1767, costing the grand sum of £1000 which was funded by money raised from the sale of 300 silver admission tickets which gained free entrance for life for its subscriber. At least three of the silver tokens have survived to this day, with one shown below. In 1813 Squire Watt, of nearby Bishop Burton, bred and trained numerous winners which included the St Leger winners Altisidora, Barefoot, Memnon and Rockingham. The great Blink Bonny won a two year old race at Beverley in 1856 prior to winning both the Derby and the Oaks the next year. In 1885 the Watt Memorial Plate was run for the first time, financed from a fund set up in memory of William Watt, the son of the famous trainer Squire Watt, who died in 1874. During both World Wars racing ceased, but four years after the end of the Second World War the new Member’s Stand was opened, although it took a further 18 years before The Earl of Halifax opened the Tattersall’s grandstand. Currently the course hosts 19 meetings annually.
Early Spring meeting 1730
Beverley £10 Plate
1. Smiling Ball, chestnut horse owned by Mr Humberston
2. Smiling Tom, grey horse owned by Mr Gallant
3. Cuzzoni, bay mare owned by Lady Lowther
Although Kiplingcotes is not a racecourse today in the conventional sense, it does host a unique event each year on a picturesque course in the Yorkshire Wolds. The Kiplingcotes Derby claims to be the oldest continuously run race in the English racing calendar. It may well have been contested as early as 1519, although the earliest record of it taking place was in 1555. A certain Thomas Carter of Helperthorpe, a lowly herdsman, was giving evidence in court and claimed to have witnessed the race run at Kiplingcotes Ashe on Shrovetide 1555. Given that Easter for that year was on Sunday 14th April, and that the race has traditionally taken place on a Thursday, Shrove Thursday would have been on 28th February 1555. In the early part of the 16th century hunting gentlemen from the parish donated £355 for a Plate and a cash prize, free from an Act of Parliament, to be given to the winner of the Kiplingcotes Plate. Although the race was open to all horses, invariably the race was won by a thoroughbred. In later years this became a problem because any horse or rider taking part in the event was disqualified from entering any future race run under Jockey Club rules. Fortunately in 1985 the Jockey Club relented and made the Kiplingcotes Derby a unique exception to this rule. The actual racecourse at Kiplingcotes held its final meeting on 19th March 1789, but the Derby is still contested each year over a 4 mile course, starting near the former Kiplingcotes railway station and finishing at Londesborough Wold Farm.
Thursday 21st March 1751
Kiplingcotes Derby over 4 miles
1. Chocolate, bay horse owned by Mr Reed
2. Hackney, bay mare owned by Mr Watson
3. Merry Harrier, bay gelding owned by Mr Wilks
4. Dunkirk, bay horse owned by Mr Witty
Tuesday 8th June 1731
Beverley 25 Guineas Plate
1. Whitenose, bay horse owned by Mr Heneage
2. Milkmaid, bay filly owned by Mr Witty
Thursday 10th June 1731
Beverley 20 Guineas Purse
1. Careless, bay horse owned by Mr Thompson
2. Gander, chestnut horse owned by Mr North
Friday 11th June 1731
Beverley 20 Guineas 4 year old Purse
1. Vulpone, bay colt by Fox owned by Mr Fawcet
Vulpone defeated a field of 6 others
