Earliest meeting: Monday 6th April 1863
Final meeting: Monday 29th September 1879.
Consett is a town in the north west of County Durham just 14 miles from the city of Newcastle. The local Consett and Derwent Hunt Committees organised race meetings in the town for a 16-year period in the latter part of the 19th century. The racecourse, skirted by the Stockton to Darlington railway line, was on Carribees Farm, (now spelt Caribees) owned by James Oliver, and first staged a meeting on Monday 6th April 1863. The Stockton and Darlington Railway company opened on 27th September 1825, but it was extended a number of times, including in the 1860s to Benfieldside Station, later known as Brickhill and then Consett, which is why newspaper reports stated that the course was close to the Stockton and Darlington line, and also why the railway company sponsored one of the races at the inaugural meeting. Full detail of that first meeting are shown below. On Monday 4th November 1872 a new course was used, positioned at the junction of the Medomsley and Durham Roads, with the opening Hurdle race won by Mr Reed’s Nimrod. Racing continued for the next 7 years until a final meeting on Monday 29th September 1879.
Monday 6th April 1863
Consett and Derwent Hunt Steeplechase over 3 miles
1. RAVENHILL (evens fav) owned by Mr Whitford
2. LINCOLN GREEN (5/1) owned by Mr Brown
3. YOUNG JESSIE (2/1) owned by Mr Robson
4. BLUESKIN (3/1) owned by Mr Trenholme
Tradesmen's Handicap over 2 miles
1. LIBERALITY (evens jt fav) owned by Mr Bearpark
2. BELFORD JUSTICE (evens jt fav) owned by Mr Robinson
3. ANNABELLA (4/1) owned by Mr Miller
Ironworks Hunt Steeplechase over 2 miles
1. WHITELOCK (4/1) owned by Mr Rawes
2. LINCOLN GREEN (2/1) owned by Mr Brown
3. BLACKHILL LASS (4/6 fav) owned by Mr Johnson
3. CHARLEY (2/1) owned by Mr Thompson
Railway Stakes over 2 miles
1. TIGER (evens fav) owned by Mr Brown
2. BLACKHILL LASS (3/1) owned by Mr Christopher
3. WHITELOCK (3/1) owned by Mr Rawes
Innkeepers’ Stakes over 1 ½ miles
1. Nimrod, aged horse owned by Mr Reed
2. Bonny Sally, aged horse owned by Mr Armstrong
3. Kate, 4 year old owned by Mr Cole
Betting: 2/1 ON Nimrod, 3/1 Bonny Sally, 5/1 Kate, 6/1 Bar
I am grateful to John Geddes for the photos below which show Caribees fields, and possibly the site of the old Caribees Farm, on which the racecourse stood.
March 1877
North Durham Steeplechase
1. St Aldates owned by Mr J J Atkinson
Farmers & Tradesmen’s Stakes
1. Crusade owned by Mr L Mullinder
Carribees Hunters Stakes
1. Omen owned by Mr J Hodgson
March 1878
Carribees Chase
1. Midnight owned by Mr A Christie and ridden by Tom Cunnigham
Red Coat Chase
1. Thinskin owned by Mr J P Teather and ridden by Mr C J Cunningham
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
