Earliest meeting: September 1773
Final meeting: Friday 5th May 1905
The Irish racecourse at the town of Derry (Londonderry) served the second largest town of Northern Ireland from the late 18th century. The town itself is walled and stands on the River Foyle, and while there is evidence of racing before the 1770s, indeed, to enhance social exclusivity in 1773 a stand was built to accommodate ladies and gentlemen, with admission priced at 1s 1d, it was 6 years later the so called ‘Father of the Irish Turf Club’ Thomas Conolly sponsored the first Gold Cup race run on the New Derry course in September 1777. By 1779 he had introduced a Silver Cup and within a year the first running of the King’s Plate took place. The third running of the Kings Plate was on Tuesday 25th June 1782 when Mr Eccles’s Grattan got the better of Lalage. In 1812, in a bid to ease the fixture congestion that was causing all Irish courses a problem, the Irish Turf Club assigned days or weeks to particular courses; Derry was assigned the second Monday in July. During the 1830s the racecourse, like the majority of courses in the country, struggled as a consequence of the great famine and racing lapsed in 1836. Racing returned in the spring of 1859 and by 1861 Derry was hosting a Royal Plate race again. The course was at its strongest during this period, securing good races with strong fields supported by a loyal crowd. This period of strength lasted until 1876, after which fields depleted, the quality of races declined and crowds decreased. By the end of the 1870s the course had lost its Royal Plate again and it was on a downward spiral of decline. The final meeting took place on Friday 5th May 1905.

Tuesday 25th June 1782

King’s Plate for 100 Guineas
1. Grattan owned by Mr Eccles
2. Lalage owned by Mr Daly
3. Hob owned by Mr Bateman

Monday 2nd to Thursday 5th August 1824

King’s Plate for 100 Guineas over 3 miles
1. Friday owned by Lord Donegall
2. Irishman owned by Mr Battersby
3. Lady Jay owned by Sir G Hill

Irish Society Plate
1. Mary Anne owned by Mr Caldwell
2. Welcome owned by Mr Battersby
3. Frederick owned by Lord Donegall

The Racing Stakes
1. Friday owned by Mr Joyce
2. Pegasus owned by Mr Irwin
3. Calista owned by Mr Caldwell

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

ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3

652 pages

774 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0

352 pages

400 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7

180 pages

140 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4

264 pages

235 former courses