Earliest meeting: Monday 28th August 1732
Final meeting: Thursday 31st March 1881
The Kent town of Bromley, 9 miles from Charing Cross, can boast 3 large parks in its vicinity, Keston Park, Farnborough Park and Bickley Park and on one of these parks a 3-day race meeting was staged from Monday 28th to Wednesday 30th August 1732. Over a century later, in the middle of the 19th century it was a bustling market town and first organised races on Tuesday 10th September 1850 when the opening Town Plate was won by Sam Hood, and the Hurdle race which followed by Captain Mytton’s The Unlucky One. The course was on the outskirts of town in ‘a pretty, rural setting in the midst of the most pastoral part of hilly Kent’. After racing a further sporting evening was organised at the White Hart. Racing continued to be well-supported each year; at the meeting on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st April 1866 the Bromley Plate was won by Musketeer who beat Moss Rose into third place, a notable achievement given that earlier in the meeting Moss Rose had captured the feature Bromley Cup. Two years later on Tuesday 7th April 1868 tragedy struck when Mr E Clifford from Thame met with a fatal accident while riding his father’s horse Vindicator in the Bromley Steeplechase Plate. The horse overstretched at the last fence and rolled over his unfortunate jockey. The final meeting took place on Thursday 31st March 1881 when the concluding West Kent Steeplechase was won by Financier.
Monday 28th August 1732
Bromley 25 Guineas Purse
1. EMPRESS, grey mare owned by Mr Griffin 1 1
2. ROSAMOND, grey horse owned by Sir Robert Fagg 2 2
3. UNNAMED hack to ensure race qualified dist
3 ran
Tuesday 29th August 1732
Bromley 10 Guineas Galloways Purse
1. RATCATCHER owned by Sir Robert Fagg walked over
Wednesday 30th August 1732
Bromley 10 Guineas Purse
1. UNNAMED brown mare owned by Mr Ireland 1 1 1
2. UNNAMED grey mare owned by Lady Anne Hamilton 2 2 dist
3. UNNAMED grey mare owned by Mr Bond 4 3 wdr
4. UNNAMED bay gelding owned by Mr Hart 3 4 wdr
4 ran
Friday 20th & Saturday 21st April 1866
The Bromley Cup over 1 ½ miles
1. Moss Rose owned by Mr England
2. Justice to England owned by Mr Griffin
3. Wade owned by Mr Sheppard
The Bromley Plate over 7 furlongs
1. Musketeer owned by Mr Bond
2. Colleen owned by Mr Burbidge
3. Moss Rose owned by Mr England
The Bickley Stakes over 7 furlongs
1. Shazalie owned by Mr Ballard
2. Lord of the Manor owned by Mr B Land
3. Master Shutt owned by Mr Castle
At the Tuesday 7th April 1868 meeting a tragic event happened. The article shown below is from the Bucks Herald and is shown courtesy of the British Newspaper Online Archive.
On the outskirts of Bromley in a pretty, rural setting in a pastoral part of hilly Kent.
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
